Starlight, Star Bright
by Paradox-Dream
Summary: Ray (Wes) is a kid who should have had it all, but instead lived a life of pain and suffering, until a member of Team Snagem came to him and promised him the one thing he had always wished for; a person who would love him. But when Ray finds out the truth will he ever be able to trust anyone ever again? Even when the perfect person to heal his broken heart is brought into his life?
1. Chapter 1: Break

***sound effects* (facial expressions) [actions] –if I was writing normally this would be in parentheses– **

**These are the rules for all of these before and after notes, thank you and enjoy the stupidity ( ;p )**

* * *

**Me: I can't believe I had to do this, I am not happy! ( -.- )**

**Plad: Well you have to admit those first two chapters, especially 1 were pretty weak**

**Me: But the information is ****_important! _****( ;n; ) **

**Plink: Why didn't you just combine all three to begin with?**

**Me: Because I liked the different quotes, but now I had to get rid of them… [pouting]**

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Chapter 1: Break

"Tonight I start the fire

Tonight I break away

Break, away from everybody

Break, away from everything

If you can't stand the way this place is

Take yourself to higher places"

~Three Days Grace "Break"

...

Soft golden light streamed through an uncovered window onto the still sleeping form of a golden haired boy. He wasn't _really_ a boy, he was 16 years old, but in sleep he looked so innocent and vulnerable that it was hard to think of him as anything else. He had clearly fallen asleep in the middle of reading; the hard corner of his book digging harshly into his cheek.

A harsh noise, somewhere between a beeping and a buzzing sound, filled the room. Slowly, the boy opened his eyes, which were a brilliant shade of gold. He reached over, soundlessly, to turn off the alarm; the pale skin of his arm, covered in countless eerily pale scars, almost glowed in the bright sunlight. Wearily he sat up, rubbing absently at his cheek, where the corner of his book had bit into it, as if he didn't really care. Truth was he didn't. Small pains didn't bother him at all, not anymore. He was used to much worse. He was far more concerned about his book; afraid that, in his sleep, he had damaged its precious pages. A quick check, though, discounted his fears. He got out of bed with great care and carefully placed the book back in its place on the shelf.

Despite his precaution his movements stirred the Espeon and Umbreon who always slept on the end of his bed. The Espeon jumped off the bed, trotted over to him, and rubbed lovingly against his legs.

"Hey, Dawn." The boy said sweetly, rubbing Dawn's head gently. "How ya doin' pretty girl?"

Dawn looked up at him, about to reply, saw the angry red mark on his cheek and became instantly upset.

"Ray! You're hurt!" She exclaimed with anxious worry.

As far as Ray knew he was the only person who could understand anything that a Pokémon said as well as if they were another human being. A little fact that, over the years, he had always kept to himself.

"What happened?" The Umbreon asked from where she still lay on the bed. Her voice was a little deeper than Dawn's and she had always been mellower than her sister, but her voice was no less concerned.

Ray laughed.

"Listen to you two. Anyone would swear I was beaten and bloody if they could hear you." He joked, "I just fell asleep on the book I was reading, that's all."

"Probably not the most pleasant way to be woken up." The Umbreon remarked.

"Actually, Eve, it was the alarm that woke me up. I can't believe that you two slept right through it."

"Alarm?" Dawn echoed, momentarily confused. Even now, months after he had started doing it, she couldn't seem to get over her shock.

Up until this year, Ray never would have dreamed of setting an alarm. He had had only two means of escaping, even for just a short while, the torturous reality of his life; reading and sleeping. The black abyss of sleep was the better of the two and the only reason her would ever have cut it short was if something happened to Dawn or Eve. But that was all in the past. He had left that horrible city, where he was born, and found a new life here in the Orre region. And, for the first time in his life, he was safe; surrounded by people who cared about him. Now, at long last, his life was a good one.

* * *

The day had been uneventful. Ray hadn't had any "assignments" that he needed to take care of, so he had spent the day with his Pokémon. Ray was the most successful snager in the Team Snagem organization. When the leaders of the team found a trainer who abused their Pokémon is was the job of Ray and the other snagers to take those Pokémon from that trainer.

It was close to dusk and Ray was walking quickly to his room, Dawn and Eve following close behind. The sound of someone saying his name stopped him in his tracks. It sounded like Viper, the first member of Team Snagem that he had ever met the one who had offered him this new, and better, life. Ray would have kept walking, were it not for the scornful mocking that had been in her tone when she said his name. What he heard next twisted his heart so painfully that he was sure it would shatter inside his chest.

"That boy has to be the most gullible person I've ever met." She laughed, a harsh, mocking sound. "He actually _believes_ all that shit about us only taking Pokémon from evil trainers, and us 'caring about him'" she drawled in a demonically sweet tone, "The only thing I _care_ about is power, and his skill as a trainer is the best tool we have for gaining more power."

"Yes," The person she was talking to agreed. "That was well spotted on your part. The more Pokémon he snags the more Shadow Pokémon we can create, and the more Shadow Pokémon we create the power we can obtain."

"Although I must admit," Viper spoke once more. "I do rather enjoy the whole enterprise. He loves Pokémon ever so much and he doesn't even realize that we're the only ones who are going to hurt the Pokémon he snags from other trainers."

Ray stumbled backwards, his eyes wide, his breath quick and ragged. He stood, paralyzed for a moment, shaking his head as if he could deny what he had just heard. He mouthed the word 'no' but no sound came with it, before he bolted to his room.

The second the door had closed behind him he fell, hard, onto his hands and knees, fighting the gripping nausea that had hit him with the realization of what he had learned. He had broken out in a cold sweat and was shaking violently. Dawn and Eve tried, in vain; to bring to him even the tiniest bit of solace, but Ray didn't seem to notice them at all.

Finally the guilt, the remorse, the pain of bitter realization became too, much for Ray to bear. Luckily he had not eaten in several hours, but then again dry heaving is always much more painful. His body spasmed uncontrollably, trying to empty a stomach that already was, causing him to gag sickeningly and gasp with pain. It was several minutes before his body gave up on its futile attempts. Ray paused; breathing heavily, then he pressed his hot, sweaty forehead to the cool, hard floor and cried.

Several more minutes passed, while he cried brokenheartedly, before he looked up again. Out the window he could see the first star of the night appearing, the same star that he had waited for every night of his life since he was six years old. Since the first time he found out, in a book, that a wish could be made on that star with a simple little rhyme.

Starlight, star bright,

First star I see tonight,

I wish I may,

I wish I might,

Every single night, for over nine years, he had completed that rhyme with his one, and only wish.

Meet just one person who'll love me in my life.

For the past, almost a year now, he had still waited to see that star every single night, in honor of his wish having had come true. Or so he had thought. Did it think this was funny? To give him the one thing he had always wanted, only for him to find later that not only had he never had it, but also that in believing that he did, had done the worst possible thing that he could imagine, hurting a Pokémon!

Angry and hurt, hurt in a way that he had never been before, right down to the depths of his soul, Ray stood, glaring at that star through the tears pooling in his eyes, and screamed, as loudly as his naturally soft voice would allow.

"Are you happy!? Is this what you wanted!? Is this what I get for believing in you!?"

Then, exhausted and heartbroken, Ray fell to floor, once more crying his heart out, until sleep came to rescue him.

* * *

Bright morning light streamed through Ray's uncovered window, piercing through his closed eyelids, and waking him up. He propped himself up a bit and looked around in confusion, as if he didn't understand why he would have fallen asleep on the floor. He spent only a few more moments in blissful ignorance before he remembered what had happened the evening before. Convulsively, he curled in on himself, pained by the memory and by what he had done.

Dawn and Eve, already awake, pressed comfortingly against him. Their touch gave him the bit of strength that he needed. They, along with his other four Pokémon, were the only good things that had ever happened to him. He saw that now, accepted it, and decided that he would leave this place. But he would not leave quietly. No, he would take from them the only thing that enabled them to so easily steal other trainers' Pokémon, the snag machine. The snag machine was a device they had developed that could turn regular poke balls into snag balls, which were capable of capturing the Pokémon of other trainers. The machine itself; however, was very large. He would have to destroy it.

There was also a smaller "portable" one that had just been finished the day before. It was a device with the same function as its much larger predecessor, but designed to fit on the arm of a single person. As the best snager Ray had been the one selected for this project, the small snag machine molded to fit his left arm. Today was to be the device's first test run, but Ray had no intention of using it, at least not in the way that they wanted him to. Rather than destroying the small machine, Ray decided that he would take it. He didn't know what a shadow Pokémon was, but he had a feeling it wasn't good, and he wanted the small snag machine with him in case he found that he needed it.

Ray knew where the explosives were stored and how to get to them. Those would work perfectly for destroying the larger snag machine. Ray paused for a minute, considering the best way to do it all. He would have to use a lot of explosives; he _had_ to be sure that it would be completely destroyed. But if he did that and simply took the small snag machine, using the access code, the explosion could very well kill several people. He couldn't take that risk. Even though they had hurt him deeply, Ray still believed that there was no reason that could ever be good enough to justify hurting someone else.

So, Ray devised a different plan. First, he would set up the explosives for the big snag machine. Second, he would use a small amount of explosives to break into the room, where the small snag machine was kept, from the outside. That would draw all of the other Team Snagem members outside of the hideout to catch whoever was trying to steal their prized achievement. This was where Ray would have to work fast; his bike would have to be waiting and ready to go once he stole the snag machine, if he wanted to escape.

Ray worked quickly and undetected to set his plan in motion. Those who saw him didn't think that there was anything unusual in the way that Ray was behaving. He gave no sign of intentions away; he didn't seem nervous or jumpy, in the least. Ray was an actor, and a good one; that was, perhaps, the _only_ thing that he could thank his so called mother for.

When they got outside Ray looked right at Dawn and Eve.

"Okay, I want the two of you to wait for me in the bike, alright?"

"But—" Dawn began to protest, but Eve cut her off.

"We're not going to let you do this alone."

"Please, I don't want to have to worry about you," Ray pleaded, "I want to know that you're both safe.

Reluctantly, Dawn and Eve jumped into the bike's side seat. What Ray didn't see was that as soon as he turned around, Eve jumped out and followed him.

"Eve!" Dawn called out pleadingly; she didn't want to make Ray worry.

"Shh!" Eve whipped he head around, glaring at her sister. Eve absolutely _refused_ to let Ray go into danger alone, even if he didn't want her there. As far as Eve was concerned Ray was too nice for his good, and she didn't understand how her sister could feel differently. Eve was tired of watching Ray be hurt because she followed his wishes and stayed out of it. This time, she wouldn't just sit back and watch. This time, she would be there when he needed her, even if he didn't want her there.

Eve caught up with him just as he was backing away from the wall, where he had placed the explosives.

"Eve," He groaned, "Why?"

"I told you, I'm not letting you do this alone."

"Alright, just stay close to me—"

At that moment the wall blew apart with a deafening sound. Ray darted into to room, Eve close on his heels, snatched the sang machine, and ran back out, glancing down to make sure Eve was still with him. They ran as fast as they could and jumped into the bike without breaking stride, almost as if they had practiced this a million times before. Ray gunned the accelerator and whipped the bike around just as everyone was rushing outside. Once he was sure that he had gone far enough to have lured everyone safely away from the hideout, he drew out the detonator, and set off the explosives that he had set up earlier.

Ray didn't look back to see the aftermath. So he did not see that the entire hideout was blown apart by the blast. All Ray knew was that he wanted to get as far away from there as he could, as quickly as he could. He wasn't even exactly sure which way he was going or what lay in that direction, but he didn't care. He knew that there was no way it could be as bad as what he was leaving behind.

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**Me: So, you are probably all wondering what's all the whining in the beginning about, why these seem to be three very different chapters –well they ****_were_****– and who the heck these two goofs are.**

**Plad: I heard that! ( -.- )**

**Plink: Gee, I love you too. ( ;n; )**

**Me: Well, you have to keep reading to find out because I did not like having to combine these chapters, but I had no choice, it was obvious that people were reading 1, then were done, they didn't even give ch.2 a chance, well fine! But now new readers have to wait to find out about Plad and Plink, they were formally introduced in ch.5 (now ch3) so you have to wait till then**

**Plad: We do appreciate you reading though, please ignore her ranting ( ^^; )**

**Plink: And please review, she won't bite we promise (million dollar smile)**

**Plad: We will make sure of that ( ^^ )**


	2. Chapter 2: On My Own

Chapter 2: On My Own

"Just keep my mind burning strong,

Into the gapping emptiness I'll go

On my own,

On my own,

On my own,

On my own,"

~Broken Iris "On My Own"

...

The farther that Ray drove from the hideout, the more he allowed himself to think about what he was going to do next. He usually didn't allow himself to think too much, about anything, for very long; his thoughts would always wander back to memories that he would much rather forget, forever; no matter how hard her tried to keep them on the future, but he knew that he had to make some sort of plan. There was one thing that he already knew would be a nonnegotiable part of his plan, he would be, forevermore, on his own; he would never give his heart, what was still left of it, to another human being ever again. Other than that he really had no idea. He supposed that he would just do what he had done before Team Snagem had lured him in. But where would he go? That was his biggest question.

Up ahead, Ray could see what looked like an old train engine left stranded and forlorn in the middle of the desert. The Outskirt Stand. He had been there once before and knew that it was a favorite stop for people traveling across the Orre region.

Ray knew, from hard earned personal experience, that if he found a quiet, out-of-the-way, spot in a place with a fair amount of people and listened that he could learn a lot without ever having to ask anyone a single question. He pulled up to the dilapidated old train engine that had become the Outskirt Stand, a combination gas station, rest stop, general store and diner; deciding that he would do just that and see if he could learn anything useful.

Ray got off his bike, squared his shoulders, drawing himself up to his full height, lifted his chin, and did his best to look severe and menacing; like someone that on one else would want to be around, or mess with. Ray had learned a long time ago that no one would hurt him if no one wanted to get close enough to him to do so.

Sitting near the end of the old corroded ramp that led inside the Outskirt Stand was a smallish black truck. In the back of the truck was a large brown burlap sack, the kind one might store potatoes or rice in, but it was so big. This puzzled Ray immensely, that sac, as big as it was, would be difficult for even two people to lift; neither potatoes nor rice was light, and who would want to have to deal with that much of either of them? Oh well, it wasn't any of his concern, in any case. Just as he thought this, two young men exited the Outskirt Stand laughing and talking to each other. Something about how stuffed they were, and how there was nothing like a good meal after a job, or something close to that anyway. Ray didn't pay much attention to them; he just rolled his eyes and waited for them to get out of the way so he could go inside. He knew their type; unruly, imprudent, sharp as a volleyball, and about as bright as matte black paint. Not that Ray thought himself superior to them, just different than them, and truth be known, he would have given just about anything to be as carefree and blissfully ignorant as they were.

Once they had left, and Ray had finished coughing on the dust cloud left by their inexplicably sudden exit, he walked cautiously up the metal railed ramp that led inside, Dawn and Eve flanking his heels, but anyone watching his approach would not have described him as cautious; confident or even dangerous would have been an onlooker's choice of words. Ray was just an actor, though, and he hated it, _loathed_ it, but for him it was a necessary evil. He was too afraid of being hurt again.

The inside if the Outskirt Stand was a bit nicer than the outside, but not by much. It still looked its age, and then some. In front of where Ray stood, in the entrance, was a bar counter, the two sides of which, that were not blocked off by the back and side walls, were bordered with tall stools. Only one of these stools was occupied, by a black haired man whose back was facing Ray. Behind the counter was the man who managed the old gas station; he was a rather large and muscular man, and nodded a greeting to Ray with a friendly smile on his broad featured face. To Ray's right was a row of booths, each one of them occupied, but, surprisingly, no one was talking. Instead all eyes were locked on the long TV, perched on the wall opposite the booths, which was blaring a breaking news story.

On the screen was a younger looking female reporter who was standing in front of the smoldering ruins of the Team Snagem hideout. Even though Ray knew that they would simply rebuild their secret hideout in a new location, he couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction at seeing Team Snagem's hideout in Eclo canyon exposed for all of Orre to see. When the reporter mentioned that one of the members had been arrested his smirk instantly faded, his satisfaction replaced by curiosity. Just how much had the apprehended member revealed? Much to Ray's astonishment the arrestee had revealed to the authorities that, not only had the Team created a portable snag machine, but also that it had been stolen. By whom; however, they had apparently not revealed. The reporter closed her coverage of the story with a statement that, hopefully, the portable snag machine would not be used for criminal purposes. Ray almost smiled at the reporter's naïve hopefulness, how he wished that he could view the world in that light, especially since, in this case, she would be right.

The breaking news story over with everyone turned back to their conversations. Ray slowly picked his way to the farthest end of the row of booths. Behind the last booth was a small table with two chairs. As he sauntered towards it, Ray listened to what the people at each booth were talking about. The first two booths that he passed housed meaningless, prattling, conversations which were most likely interrupted by the news broadcast and now being continued where they were left off by the blasé citizens. From the third booth; however, Ray heard on of its occupants, a middle aged man, tell his companion.

"If you ask me Team Snagem got what they deserved. It's about time that someone got back at those low-life Pokémon thieves."

"Yah, no kidding." His companion; a middle aged, dark haired, woman, agreed. "I wonder, though; who could have done all that?" She asked in awe.

"I don't know." The man replied, perplexed.

In the fourth, and final, booth was a single pink haired youth. As Ray passed him the young man called out.

"Hey you!"

Ray turned around, glaring slightly at the youth. On the outside Ray looked annoyed, but on the inside his heart was pounding furiously.

"What?" Ray demanded in an, intentionally, supremely annoyed tone.

The pink haired youth laughed a little.

"Yah, you'd knock us flat for sure." He remarked with a grin.

Ray raised a skeptical brow at him in a purely quizzical look. He was taken aback by the unusual teen and had no idea of how to react to him.

"I was about to say," The youth continued "that you looked like a tough trainer and that we should have a battle," He laughed again, "But I doubt I'd last five minutes against a trainer like you."

Unsettled, Ray turned around and left. When he reached the end of the old ramp; however, he was stopped by someone calling after him. Ray recognized the voice instantly; it was the pink haired teen who had spoken to him only a few moments before. Ray turned around; he was off the ramp now, to see the teen standing, oddly enough, well out of arms reach from him.

What the second boy couldn't possibly have known was that, in standing farther away from the young, strong looking, bond trainer than most people would have when talking to someone, he was doing just the right thing. The pink haired teen _did_ notice that the fair headed one seemed more relaxed than he had inside, when the two boys had been much closer together, and that he didn't seem at all annoyed, unlike before. So, he did not move closer to the other boy, he made sure that he stayed out of arms reach.

"I changed my mind. Care to have a Pokémon battle with me?" the pink haired youth asked with a very friendly grin. Ray glanced down at his precious Dawn and Eve who looked up at him expectantly, clearly eager to take up the other boy's offer. Looking back up, Ray nodded to the strange youth that he had met, in wordless agreement.

"Oh yah," The boy added, almost as an afterthought, putting his hand behind his head in an adorable gesture of disconcertment. "I guess I should introduce myself, huh? Name's Willie."

"Ray." Ray responded laconically, walking a bit away from the ramp so that they would have enough room for their double battle, the standard in the Orre region.

Willie plucked two poké balls from his belt and threw them out.

"Adam! Adella! Let's go!"

From Willie's poké balls appeared two lively Zigzagoons, who seemed to be just as eager and facetious as their trainer.

Taking a half step forward with his left foot, Ray flung out his left arm, a little habit he'd developed in his battles, prompting Dawn and Eve to rush forward as he called out their names.

True to Willie's prediction, their battle was short. Willie recklessly rushed in with a double headbutt, which Dawn and Eve dodged with prompt skill. Ray took hold of the obvious opening that was left as the two Zigzagoons overshot their targets.

"Eve! Use helping hand! Dawn! Confusion!" With the flawless ease of long practice Eve and Dawn did just that, and proved just how potent their combination was by taking Adam, the male Zigzagoon, down with that one attack. Willie hastily called Adam back and vainly tried to counter Ray's attack.

"Adella! Double team, then double edge!"

Normally, using double team would have been a good way for Willie to confuse his opponent and their Pokémon, but he had vastly underestimated Ray's ability to keep a cool head under pressure and to think quick as lightning.

"Dawn, use double team too! Eve, snatch!"

Adella stopped, confused that both Dawn and Eve had mirrored her move. Willie panicked, this was the last thing he would have expected, for Ray to have Dawn use double team and then use Eve's move, snatch, so that she could use it as well. Snatch enabled its user to copy any other move that another Pokémon used, but only it had the effect of raising the user's stats; double team raised the user's evasion, and therefore was eligible for snatch. Ray pounced on the huge opening left by Adella's confusion and Willie's flustered panic.

"Dawn! Psychic! Eve, use bite!"

Adella tried to dodge Eve's attack, but Dawn had come in on that same side, so Adella ran right smack into Dawn's powerful psychic attack, ending the battle. Defeated, Willie called Adella back.

"Good job, both of you." He told them before turning his attention back to Ray.

"You too." Willie added with a smile.

Ray nodded.

"Thanks."

"Hey," Willie said, as if he had just gotten an idea, "If you want a challenge you should head over to Phenac city. The trainers there are a heck of a lot tougher than me. Plus they've got the pre-gym and a stadium so there are a bunch of strong trainers in those places too." He suggested helpfully.

Ray smiled a little, looks like he'd gotten what he came for after all.

"Thanks, I think I might just do that." Ray replied, which seemed to please the Willie very much, that he'd been able to help the other boy.

"Oh, and Willie," Ray added as he started to walk away, "You're not as hopeless a trainer as you might think. You could be really good one day, if you keep at it."

Willie couldn't have known it at the time, but Ray had been just as surprised by his comment as he was; just as Ray couldn't have known that taking Willie's advice would change his life, forever.


	3. Chapter 3: At The Beginning

**Sorry I've been gone so long. Chapter 5 took ****_forever_**** to write. I promise I will do my best not to write another chapter this long again. (Blame the song for being so damn perfect) **

**Also I might be able to write chapter 6 but after that the rest will have to wait till I can get back to my GameCube the stories don't match exactly, but there are some parts I want to keep the same. Unfortunately I haven't played all the way through the game in a very long time (since it came out my cousin stole my 1st copy) I got a new copy of it this summer, but I won't be able to play it again until after graduation in May seeing as it is currently thousands of miles away from me.**

**Also I have two assistants now. That is what they claim to be, but I think they just like making smart-ass comments and annoying me -.- (they are my OC's btw)**

* * *

**Plad: And to make sure you don't neglect us**

**Author: I do not neglect you**

**Plad: Have you finished chapter 9 yet?**

**Author: No…**

**Plink: Plad, be nice.**

**Plad: Whose side are you on?**

**Plink: The one that makes everyone happy**

**Ray: That doesn't exist.**

**Author: *pointing at door* Out! Now! You have ass to kick in this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 5: At The Beginning

"We were strangers

Starting out on a journey,

Never dreaming what we'd have to go through.

Now here we are

And I'm suddenly standing

At the beginning with you."

"At The Beginning" by: Richard Marx & Donna Lewis

...

It was dark and hot, and she was on something that was moving. That was all she knew of where she was. _'Great job, Sam.'_ She chastised herself wryly, hoping to distract herself from how terrified she was. _'Now look where your mouth's gotten you. Why can't you just stay out of something for just once in your life?'_

Truth be told, Sam had never been able to stay out of much of anything. As a kid, whenever she saw someone being bullied she had always been the one stepped in and told the bully off for picking on others. So when she saw that strange Pokémon with the ominous black aura, in true Sam Blysing fashion, she just _had_ to say something about it. No one she had talked to had had any idea what she was talking about, but the moment she had tried to leave town they jumped her. She must have passed out, either that or they must have knocked her out, because the next thing she knew she was waking up in a dark, stuffy sack, with her mouth taped shut, and no idea where she was.

Sam had never been so terrified in her life; she was on the verge of panic, fighting to keep calm so that she could think. Then, the painful bumps that had told her she must have been in a truck, or something else that was moving, stopped. Sam froze, not that she had been moving all that much beforehand, but now her limbs were stiff in horror. She heard doors opening, then closing, and two men talking, but in her petrified state she couldn't understand what they were saying. All she could hear were the frantic questions that whirled through her mind. What did they want with her? Where were they? What if they killed her? Would anyone be able to find her body so that her family could at least know what had happened to her? Thinking of her mommy, and daddy, and grandparents; how heartbroken they would be, Sam started to cry. Soon it became nearly impossible for her to breathe, her nose always clogged up when she cried, and normally she could breathe through her mouth when that happened, but not this time, not with the sticky, hateful tape that kept her mouth shut. When her kidnappers started to pick up the sack, and her with it, something seemed to clamp down on the writhing panic that had held her still and complacent in its crushing grip. She would _not_ be a victim. She was going to fight back with all of her strength. Sam kicked and writhed. She was faintly aware of her kidnappers telling her to stop squirming, but she wasn't about to do anything that they told her. That was when she realized, belatedly for it should have been quite obvious to her, that her kidnappers, like the idiots they were, had left her hands unbound. She reached up, ripped off the tape, and started screaming. Only afterwards would she realize that she had actually been screaming words.

"Help! Someone! Kidnappers!"

"Damn it! That tape didn't keep her trap shut." She heard one of her kidnappers tell his partner, but the other one didn't respond right away. When he did speak it wasn't in response to the first, although it was still addressed to him.

"Shit! I think that punk heard all of that."

'_What?!'_ Sam froze again, this time in wild hope.

"Punk? I've been called a lot of things," Drawled a deep, haughty voice. "But I don't believe that I have ever been referred to as a punk before."

Under normal circumstances Sam would have rolled her eyes at the superior tone, but these were far from normal circumstances. Even so, her first thought was.

_'Great, I'm gonna be rescued by an arrogant jerk.'_

* * *

"No one told me

I was going to find you

Unexpected, what you did to my heart

When I lost hope

You were there to remind me

This is the start"

"At The Beginning" by: Richard Marx & Donna Lewis

...

Punk?! Ray had been called a lot of derogatory things in his life: wimp, weakling, geek, book worm, "that kid" as if he wasn't of any import to anyone; he'd even been referred to, by a group of thugs, as their personal punching bag, but punk?

The closest anyone had ever come to calling him that was the Pokémon hunter that Ray had rescued his sweet little Vulpix and his little Shinx, well not so little now that she'd evolved into a Luxray, from. That Pokémon hunter had called him a twerp when Ray, who was only twelve at the time, had stopped him from capturing what he had ignorantly labeled as the "find of the century" a white Vulpix. That was the only time Ray had ever fought someone, before or since, and surprisingly he had won; sending the black-hearted Pokémon hunter scurrying away to lick his wounds.

He hadn't even done anything! Well, at least not yet, anyway. All Ray had done was park his bike and walk into Phenac city. It wasn't his fault they were there! The same two men, with the same black truck, he had seen at the Outskirt Stand. When he had first seen them Ray's full intention had been to simply walk past them. Before he could; however, he had noticed that the sack they were trying to carry, the same one he had seen before, was moving! He herd the man closest to him say,

"Hey! Stop squirming!"

Ray had stopped, his forehead wrinkling in confusion as he watched the scene unfolding before him. Then she screamed,

"Help! Someone! Kidnappers!" her final cry had been punctuated with a vigorous kick. Ray couldn't help but smirk at her ferocity.

"Damn it! That tape didn't keep her trap shut!" The man closest to him had cursed; that was when his buddy, who was facing Ray, finally looked up and noticed their unwanted audience.

"Shit! I think that punk herd all of that."

Punk?! Ray wasn't sure whether to be offended or gratified by the title. Either way, what they chose to call him was irrelevant; he had to rescue their prisoner. Ray might not have been fond of people, but that didn't mean that could allow himself to look the other way while someone else was hurt; despite the fact that that was all anyone had ever done for him. He put on as severe an act as he could.

"Punk? I've been called a lot of things, but I don't believe that I have ever been referred to as a punk before."

The two men set down their captive, glaring.

"Hey Trudly, mind if I teach this punk to mind his own business?" The closer one asked the other, taking the two poké balls from his belt.

"He's all yours, Folly." Replied the second.

Ray narrowed his golden eyes; a Pokémon battle, perfect. If that's how they wanted to settle this he was more than happy to oblige, but only if Dawn and Eve agreed, of course. He looked down to his beloved girls.

"Well? What do you two think?" Ray asked, glancing over at the two criminals with a sly and very dangerous glare. Dawn and Eve arched their backs and hissed in at the criminals in unison to show their eager agreement.

"My thoughts exactly." Ray replied, casting a menacing smile at his soon-to-be opponent.

Folly threw his poké balls, summoning two Shroomish.

"Ready to get your ass kicked punk?" Folly asked with a sneer.

"You wish." Ray retorted mildly, sending Dawn and Eve into the battle. Ray, confident in Dawn and Eve's skills, allowed Folly to make the first move; which he promptly wasted with an easily dodged double tackle.

"You know what to do." He told Dawn and Eve calmly when Folly ordered the attack. Ray sighed; this was going to be easier than he thought. He stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back in the balls of his feet, going from menacing and dangerous to aloof and supremely bored in a matter of seconds. Just like the arrogant jerk that he had betrayed before, this was just an act. Ray was far from bored, disappointed, yes, because the battle would be so short, but not bored.

Ray loved battling with his Pokémon almost as much as they did; a great irony for him, for until, at the age of fourteen, he had finally relented and led his Pokémon into their first battle something they had begged him to do for years, he would never even have considered it. He just hadn't been able to understand how battling could be enjoyable for the Pokémon, they got hurt in them, how could that be enjoyable? His Pokémon had tried in vain, for Ray lacked the personal experiences to relate, to explain to him that, for them, it was similar to why humans loved playing sports, despite all of the bruises and injuries that came with playing them. After their first battle; however, he finally understood. It had been exiting; although at the time it had made him feel sick because he had viewed it as sadistic that he had had fun, but after listening to his Pokémon go ON and ON about how much fun it had been for days, it had finally clicked.

After Dawn and Eve had dodged two more poorly chosen attacks, Ray decided to end the battle.

"Dawn, use confusion on one of them. Eve, use bite on the other."

The twin Eons sighed in disappointment; they were having fun dodging the Shroomish! But they also understood that, although they were having fun, the girl these men had kidnapped certainly wasn't and so they attacked with their full strength; knocking out both Shroomish and ending the battle.

"Wh-bu-how?!" Folly spluttered in shock. Ray glanced coolly at Trudly.

"You wanna try to?" He asked the crook with a smirk.

"Tch! Luckily for you, we've got better things to do." He replied.

Ray had to try very hard not to roll his eyes. He may act tough when he's really not, but at least he could admit when he was beaten.

* * *

"And life is a road and I wanna keep going.

Love is a river I wanna keep flowing.

Life is a road, now and forever, wonderful journey.

I'll be there when the world stops turning,

I'll be there when the storm is through,

In the end I wanna be standing,

At the beginning with you."

"At The Beginning" by: Richard Marx & Donna Lewis

...

**_Ray_**

The two men hastily jumped back into their truck and took off. Before Ray could move to free their now abandoned captive; however, a young man and woman came running up, causing Ray to take a step back. They were still much too close for his liking, but he was oddly hesitant to go any further away from the girl he had just rescued; his curiosity overpowering the urge to flee from these people that was firmly ingrained into his nature. The young man, probably in his early to mid-twenties, knelt down to untie the knot that held the mouth of the sack closed, but seemed to having a hard time with it; while the woman, who appeared to be roughly the same age, looked on with obvious concern for the person inside. Ray wondered if anyone had ever watched anything that happened to him with that same look. He doubted it. Then Ray heard the man mutter something that sounded like,

"Stupid knot, come on."

Ray wanted to take the two steps that separated him from them and try to undo the knot himself, but he couldn't bring himself to move any closer. He sighed, there was only one thing to do. He didn't like it, but it was the only way he knew that he could get the two of them to back away.

**_Sam_**

"It's a knot." Sam recognized this voice, the drawling haughtiness of it, the softness of its volume; it was the voice of the man who had rescued her; so cold and distasteful now that she almost shrank back at the sound of it. "What is taking so long?" A disgusted sigh. "Move, I'll undo it myself."

Sam heard the sound of footsteps backing away, followed a heartbeat later by approaching ones. She could imagine the shock of the two new people who had come to help, her rescuer had not said a word since they had come running over, if she had been in their position she would have backed away too, but she'd heard his voice before, so she wasn't as fazed by it. Within seconds of this exchange the mouth of the sack loosened, letting in a slim beam of light that left her blinking against it.

Freed, Sam crawled out of the sack and stood; only to be assaulted with concerned words of sympathy and anxious questions by the two people who had arrived after her kidnappers had fled. But Sam was paying little attention to them; she was looking for the man who had rescued her. It took her only a second to find him. He had drawn away from them to see to his Pokémon, but, from where she stood, Sam could still see most of his face.

He was beautiful! He had thick, silvery-blond hair that shone like gold when, as she watched him, the sun came out from behind a thin cloud and struck it. His face was beautiful too, with delicate, but well defined features and _young_. If she had to guess his age she would have said, in that moment, fourteen, _maybe_ fifteen; as opposed to the twenty something she would have guessed by only hearing his voice. Of course, his eyes, soft and sparkling with all the love in the world –the only way that she could possibly think of to describe his golden eyes at that moment– as he looked at his Pokémon probably made him look younger than he really was.

He stroked the Espeon and Umbreon gently with his long, slim hands, and she could, faintly, hear him murmuring softly to them. After a few moments of this, he stood, and turned to fully face all of them again. Sam almost flinched at the change. His eyes, which only heartbeats before had sparkled with infinite love and tenderness, now glittered with mistrust and something else that she couldn't quite identify. He looked older now too, in that ageless way that seemed to show in some mysterious nonphysical way that could make even a young person seem very, very old without wrinkles or other physical indications of age.

What had caused this change? Why did he look at his Pokémon so differently from people? The only reason she could think of was that someone must have done something to him to make him this way. This thought awakened Sam's empathy, her desire to comfort others who no one else would listen to, her longing to help those who wanted to change, but for whatever reason couldn't do so on their own. It certainly didn't help that Sam had always loved a puzzle or a good mystery; something, or in this case some_one_, that was difficult to understand. She was decided. Somehow, someway, she would make sure that she would be able to stay with him, at least until she had helped him, and figured him out.

**_Ray_**

She was staring at him. Why was she staring at him? He didn't like it. Her blue eyes made him nervous; they reminded him of another pair of blue eyes, the ones that belonged to the one person who he could never forgive. Granted, the girl who stood in front of him now had medium-length, ginger hair, not long, blond hair. He focused on that one crucial difference, resolutely turning his thoughts away from the memories that were threatening to invade his mind.

Ray was faintly aware of the young man, who was dressed as if he had been out jogging, babbling something to the girl about how well he had battled and how she should've seen it. The girl smiled at him, but he didn't smile back. A smile and kind words were easy to fake, hell, he'd even fallen for that ploy once –well _twice_ actually– and he had no intention of making that same mistake again. He remembered something he had read once "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, I don't think so!" he couldn't remember exactly, but he was fairly certain that a character in one of the countless novels he'd read had said that.

Ray blinked several times, belatedly realizing that the girl had asked him a question. She stood, patiently waiting for his answer. He just stood, blinking at her in confusion until she sighed and repeated the question,

"What's your name? Oh, and mine's Sam Blysing, by the way." She added.

"Ray." He replied shortly; he sure as heck wasn't going to just tell her his last name. It was a name that, to him at least, sounded as evil as it was.

"Oh… well… thanks for saving me." She said awkwardly. Ray suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. What had she expected from him, a sonnet? Not, that he couldn't have made one up on the spot, he'd certainly read enough of them to know how to make one.

The girl, Sam, gasped, as if she had just remembered something important.

"Did those guys happen to have a strange looking Pokémon with them?" She asked suddenly, looking back and forth between the three people who were standing around her.

"What do you mean did they have a strange looking Pokémon?" The woman, who was dressed in a smart, pink suit, asked.

"Yah, they both looked like perfectly normal Shroomish to me." The jogger added.

"Oh… well, never mind then. It's nothing." Sam responded sullenly.

"Listen, something's obviously troubling you." The woman said, "You should go talk to the mayor, he's in the big house behind the fountain and to the left, he might be able help." She suggested, pointing to indicate the direction of the mayor's home. Sam looked, bit her lip, and glanced over at Ray.

"Um…" She began nervously, "could you… I mean, would you please come with me?" She asked him, her blue eyes wide and a little scared. Ray glared at her, hoping that would be enough to make her give up. It wasn't.

"I mean, if those men come back…" She said, purposefully leaving the sentence unfinished, leaving him to fill in the blank. _'Damn it! Why did she have to make such a good point?'_ Ray cursed his unwillingness to turn a blind eye to this whole situation under his breath before answering her,

"Fine. I'll take to the mayor's house, but that's _it._"

She didn't even try to hide the beaming smile on her face. Ray sighed; the next five minutes were going to be nothing short of torture for him.


	4. Chapter 4: Would It Matter?

**Author: *thud… thud… thud…***

**Plad: You okay?**

**Author: *muffled * I can't remember.**

**Plad: Remember…?**

**Author: What I wanted to tell them something before this chapter. I wrote it down, but now I can't find the note.**

**Plink: You mean this note? [Waving a small piece of paper]**

**Author: Yes! Plink, I love you! ( XD )**

**Plad: I thought you loved me… (Puppy dog eyes)**

**Author: (-.-) I love you both**

**Plink: Do you want me to read it?**

**Author: Nope watch this! ( XD ) [takes note]**

**Note:**

**The song quotes for chapters six and seven are Ray's big questions. **

**Would it matter? Will anybody ever come about him? Why is it so hard to find just one person who'll care about him? Is it too much to ask? **

**P.S. Chapter 7 isn't stated but I do have the quote for it.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Would it Matter

"If I wasn't here tomorrow would anyone lose sleep?

If I wasn't hard and hollow then maybe you would miss me.

I know I'm a mess and I wanna be someone,

Someone that I'd like better,

I can never forget, so don't remind me of it forever.

What if I just pulled myself together?

Would it matter at all?

What if I just tried not to remember?

Would it matter at all?

All the chances that have passed me by,

Would it matter if I gave it one more try?

Would it matter at all?"

"Would it Matter" by: Skillet

...

**Sam**

"Do you have to walk right behind me like that?" Ray demanded harshly. Sam quickly skirted around him until he could see her in his peripheral vision. She knew that he could see her because she could see his shoulders relax, ever so slightly. Still, he looked taunt and stressed. She wondered about this for only a moment before he spoke again.

"And quit walking so close to me already. It's annoying." He told her with fierce glare, but his voice wasn't quite as harsh as it had been before.

Sam sidestepped a bit; until she was too far away to be able to just reach out and touch him. To her it felt a bit awkward to be walking that far away from him, but when she saw his shoulders relax considerably, she knew that, for him, this was much more comfortable. Sam wondered why this was, but she was pretty sure that asking him about it would be a bad idea. She glanced over at his Espeon and Umbreon, flanking his heels, walking happily beside him. She tried to remember what he had called them during the battle. Dawn and Eve, she was fairly sure that Dawn was the Espeon and Eve was the Umbreon, that made the most sense. Sam let a few moments of silence pass before she gave in to her innate curiosity and asked him about them.

"Ray?"

He glanced quickly at her.

"What is it?" He asked. His tone was slightly annoyed, but she noticed that it was not harsh like it had been before.

"Your Espeon and Umbreon, why did you name them Dawn and Eve? Were they already evolved when you got them?"

"No, I've raised them since they hatched as Eevee's." He answered softly. His golden eyes were distant, a small, ghost, of a smile playing at his lips; he looked like he was lost in a happy memory. She had guessed right, asking him about his Pokémon had softened his hard exterior.

"I had always thought that dawn and evening were the most beautiful times of the day," he continued, in the same soft tone. This was nothing like the haughty, harsh, and annoyed tones that she had heard from him before. God his voice was beautiful when he talked like this; she thought she could listen to it forever. "And they were the most beautiful Pokémon I had ever seen. The two most beautiful times of day seemed like the perfect names for the two most beautiful Pokémon in the world." At that point a small, but genuine, smile _did_ light up his face for a brief moment.

"That's really sweet." She said, hoping to coax him into saying more.

But he just shrugged his blunt manner back and his guard up once more.

**Ray**

Damn it! What the hell had possessed him to tell her all that? He could have just ignored her, but _nooo_ he had to actually answer her. _'Stupid! What the hell were you thinking? Do you _want_ history to repeat itself?'_

He snuck a quick glance at her, but not quick enough, she caught him and smiled, he looked away. What was wrong with him? Would he ever learn? He wondered, not for the first time, why he felt such longing for another person to care about him when all that had ever gotten him was _hurt_. Why weren't his Pokémon enough? Maybe, that was just in his nature as a human being to want to be with others humans. Maybe he really just wanted proof that not all humans were bad, because if they were, wouldn't that make him bad by default? Then again, he _was_ wasn't he? He had just proven that. He may have been tricked, but that didn't change what he had done. That what he had done was completely and utterly wrong. And it had all happened because he had let himself believe there could be people in the world who just might care about him. Now here he was about to open his heart again, about to make the same mistake.

_'Oh, well, it doesn't matter, we'll part ways soon and I'll never have to see her again.' _He told himself.

"What makes you say that?"

He almost jumped, startled by the sound of Sam's voice; he had been completely lost in his own thoughts.

"What do you mean?" He asked, bewildered, he hadn't said anything.

"What you said just now, 'you do what you've always done, you get what you've always gotten' what makes you say that?" She answered her sapphire eyes bright with curiosity.

He looked at her in confusion. He had _thought_ that, but he was certain that he hadn't actually said it. For a brief moment he wondered, with a twinge of panic, if she had somehow read his thoughts. No, that wasn't possible, but then how had she heard that?

"You have a bad habit of muttering what you're thinking under your breath, especially if you're remembering something that you've read before." Dawn told him, amused, her twin snickering beside her.

"_Now_ you tell me." Ray muttered back at her.

Dawn just shrugged playfully, while Eve answered with innocent simplicity.

"We thought you knew."

"Huh! If I believed that I'd believe anything." He replied and instantly regretted it; the truth of it. That was _exactly_ what his problem was, he _would_ believe anything.

"Um…" Sam began uncertainly.

"Forget about it." Ray told her coldly, "It was nothing and we're already there, besides."

He finished as they approached the mayor's house.

It really didn't matter; any of it. Soon he would alone with his Pokémon again and this time he would _stay_ that way.

* * *

**Author: Wish me luck bribing my little brother –he's still back home with the GameCube, that lucky bastard– to play the game and take notes for me –especially on the dialogue– to help me refresh my memory.**

**Plad: *whispering* Don't do it. She won't finish our book.**

**Author: (glare)**

**Plink: But she wants to finish this one too. And people tend to stop reading if you don't post anything for a long time.**

**Author: [hugs him]**

**Plink: ( ^^; )**

**Plad: (-.-) Kiss ass. **


	5. Chapter 5: Someone Who Cares

**Author: *sniff***

**Plad: ( D: ) What's wrong?**

**Author: [wipes eyes] He said no…**

**Plink: Who said no, to what?**

**Author: My brother said no to taking notes for me, because he's too absorbed in his Halo game. So now I'm just going to have to only do one chapter a month until June.**

**Plad: But I thought that was the month you went home, like close the 6th or something like that. Why would you only write one chapter that month?**

**Plink: She means that starting in June she'll be able to write much faster.**

**Plad: oh… I see! Said the blind man. **

**Author: ( -.- ) You are so overdramatic.**

**Plad: But you still love me anyway.**

**Author: (^^) Of course I do.**

**Author: Oh, and the words you see in brackets near the end of the chapter are there solely for your benefit, Sam doesn't actually understand what Dawn and Eve are saying.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Someone Who Cares

"Why is it so hard to find someone,

Who cares about you?

When it's easy enough to find someone,

Who looks down on you.

Why is it so hard to find someone,

Who can keep it together

When you've come undone?

Why is it so hard to find someone,

Who cares about you?"

~"Someone Who Cares" by Three Days Grace

...

**Sam**

"Forget about it. It was nothing and we're already there besides."

_Nothing?!_ How could he call that nothing? Sam was absolutely certain that Ray had completely understood what his Pokémon had been saying. His replies had been too perfect, too seamless, to be the result of anything else. But that was beside the point; it was what he had said before 'you do what you've always done, you get what you've always gotten,' that perturbed her; it seemed important. What had he always done before? What had he always gotten because of it? What did that have to do with the situation at hand? Why was he so dismissive about it?

Just as Ray reached for the door of the major's house, it opened. Ray stepped back, and Sam couldn't help but notice how hastily, as the man who had been inside walked out. Sam shuddered reflexively. He was, by any and all definitions, creepy looking. He was tall and gaunt. Of course Ray was slight of frame too, but attractively so, this man was not. He had narrow, reddish tinted eyes and white hair, arrayed into an extremely odd, yet somewhat scary looking fashion that reminded Sam strongly of snakes, reared up and poised to strike. He also had a grotesquely creepy sense of fashion with a dark purple shirt, dark blue, almost back, pants and a wired, dark red skirt like piece at his waist that ended in layers of pointed panels.

He looked directly at Ray for a long moment. Ray, oddly enough, didn't seem to have a particular reaction to the man; just the same wary, mistrustful, and somewhat disdainful look that he gave to everyone.

"You are a trainer I presume?" The man asked, his voice no less creepy to Sam than the rest of him, apparently having noticed Dawn and Eve, who were glaring at him from where they stood at Ray's feet. Ray nodded, once, glaring slightly, as his he was annoyed that this stranger had not walked off by now. The strange man chuckled, an odd _fufufu _sound that had Sam shuddering even more than before.

"I like your expression." He said, chuckling again, "I have a feeling that we will meet again somewhere."

His words sent a chill down her spine, there was something about this man that she didn't like, beyond his flat out creepy appearance, something that she didn't trust. She fought the urge to move closer to Ray, knowing that if she did it would most likely agitate him. She was kind of glad that she was standing that far away from him though, because it meant that she could clearly see his reaction to the stranger's words. His golden eyes, which were glittering with mistrust now more than ever, narrowed suspiciously. His entire expression seemed to ask 'is that a promise or a threat?' Sam heard Eve growl hiss softly, as if picking up on her trainer's misgivings. Dawn growled quietly and hid behind Ray's legs as the man walked past them. Sam let out a breath that she hadn't even realized that she had been holding. She sincerely hoped that he was wrong and they would never see him again.

**Ray**

Once the stranger was gone Ray felt his shoulders relax a bit. There was something about that man that didn't like, but he listlessly dismissed the feeling as the reaction he would have to anyone who had said something similar to that. Ray shook his head to clear his thoughts, walked forward, opened the door and walked inside. As soon as the major, a short, fat man dressed in a brownish-red suit, caught sight of them he began chattering delightedly. Ray barely heard the major's over enthusiastic greeting, his head all but spinning from the fast stream of words. Well over sixteen years and people who wanted to talk to him had been few and far between. Now, suddenly it seemed like everyone had something to say to him. The most shocking part of it all was that most of it was friendly in nature.

"Actually, um…" Sam began shyly, stepping slowly around Ray. Although he didn't let it show this confused him, she didn't seem like a naturally shy person.

"Is there some problem you wanted to speak to me about?" The major asked kindly.

"I… I saw it." Sam replied shakily.

Ray dropped his forehead into his hand.

_'Well, that was incredibly descriptive.'_ He thought sarcastically. The major just starred at her blankly.

"I mean… I saw a strange Pokémon, no, that's not quite right, it was…" Sam tried to clarify, but was apparently unable to find the right words.

"What exactly was strange about it?" The major asked patiently.

"Well it… it had this… this black aura around it, and it was _really_ aggressive, and it… it attacked the people, not just the other Pokémon."

"Pft. I don't get the big deal with that last part." Ray heard Eve mutter to Dawn. "If someone, _anyone,_ ever tries to hurt Ray again you can bet that I'm gonna kick their ass before they can."

Ray whirled around and starred at Eve in pure shock. He couldn't even bear to imagine what might happen to Eve if she tried that.

"I'm just sick of sitting back and watching you get hurt." Eve protested, seeing Ray's worried expression, "I'm not going to hide behind you anymore. Whether you like it or not, you deserve better than that!"

"It's the truth, I swear." Sam persisted. Ray turned back around, she and the major had apparently continued their conversation, oblivious to Eve's outburst.

"I'm not saying that I don't believe you," The major palliated her, "just that it sounds like quite the story, but I assure you that I will look into the matter."

"You will? Thank you so much!" Sam exclaimed with a little bounce, clasping her hands together.

"Oh not at all, I can't just allow criminals to run around bothering pretty young ladies such as yourself, now can I?"

Sam just smiled politely at the major's compliment.

"I assume that you are a trainer, am I correct?" The major asked, addressing Ray now.

Ray nodded.

"Well then," The major replied, positively beaming, "I recommend that you pay a visit to our Colosseum. There are many strong trainers there. I'm sure that you would enjoy it."

Ray just nodded and walked out without saying a word.

* * *

"Hey! Wait up!"

Ray whirled around and glared at Sam, who was running to catch up with him.

"I said that I would take you to the major's house and that was **_it_**."

"Yah, but-"

"But nothing! Just go away and leave me alone." Ray retorted.

Sam crossed her arms and set her chin stubbornly, meeting his golden glare with sapphire defiance.

"I'm not going anywhere until I've done something to help you."

_"What?"_ Ray asked, completely taken aback by her declaration. She _wanted_ to help him?

"You helped me, so now it's my turn to help you."

"You can help me by going away and not bothering me again." He replied coldly, remembering what had happened the last time that someone had "helped" him.

"That doesn't count." Sam insisted, "How could that be considered helping you?"

Ray narrowed his eyes, thinking. He hadn't considered going to the Colosseum right away, but it would be the perfect opportunity to ditch her. He certainly wasn't going to tell her why leaving him alone would be helping him, there was more pain there than he cared to remember.

"Fine." He groaned, not relishing the prospect of having to go anywhere else with her. She had already started to grow on him and that was something that could only hurt him in the end; experience had finally taught him that.

"Ray?" Sam asked after only a few moments of silence.

"What is it now?" Ray demanded going for the most annoyed tone he could muster. Maybe, if he got her to dislike him, maybe then she wouldn't be disheartened when he ditched her.

_'Yah right,'_ Ray thought bitterly to himself, _'Stop kidding yourself. You're not worth anyone's time or affection. You never have been and never will be.'_

"About what you said earlier… what did you mean when you said that?"

"When I said what?"

"You do what you've always done; you get what you've always gotten."

She remembered that? She certainly was stubborn; he had to give her that.

"Why are you insisting on making such a big deal out of that? I told you, it was nothing." Ray told her, walking through the automatic doors and into the Phenac Colosseum. It was quite beautiful on the inside, there was water everywhere; from a moat around the base of the exterior walls, to a waterfall behind the reception desk.

"And I don't believe that. I know you meant something by it. Even if it was just you thinking out loud, I know it's important." Sam persisted, but Ray ignored her. Instead he took the last few steps that separated him from the reception desk.

"Are you here to register for the Colosseum challenge?" The lady behind the desk asked.

Ray nodded.

"I'm sorry, but the registration for this challenge has already closed. Please come and try again a little later."

_'Perfect. Just perfect, so much for plan A.'_ Ray thought as he turned around, heading back outside.

"Look, Ray, I know… I mean… I'm pretty sure, that, in the past, you've been-" Sam began, following Ray out, but broke off with a startled gasp when the doors opened. Standing in front of them were three Team Snagem members.

_'Today just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?'_ Ray thought sarcastically as he fought back a sharp, and very unexpected, pang of disappointment in his heart. He was fairly certain of the things that they would say and that Sam would turn away from him because of it. For some reason, even though he had been planning on ditching her, the thought of her rejecting him hurt.

"Ray! We found you, you filthy, good for nothing, double crossing, traitor!" The middle one exclaimed, Ray couldn't remember his name, but, then again, he'd never bothered to learn many names.

_'Ouch!'_ Ray thought with sarcastic amusement, but he didn't say it, merely smirked at the thought.

"As if blowing up the hideout wasn't bad enough, you stole the Snag machine too!"

"Ray, who are these people?" Sam asked in a worried tone.

"Don't you know?" The one to the left asked with a sneer, before Ray could answer, "We're from Team Snagem."

**Sam**

"But… if they're calling you a traitor then… that means…"Sam whispered, half to Ray, half to herself.

"That's right. Ray used to be one of us." The goon on the right answered, "He was the best snagger we had. At least until he blew up our base and stole our snag machine, he was."

"Ray… is that… is that true?" She asked, unable to keep her voice from shaking a little.

Ray squared his shoulders and set his chin, as if bracing himself, before answering her in a toneless voice,

"Yes, it is." But he avoided looking at her.

Sam stared at him in complete shock, mortified by what she had learned.

"Well, well, well looks like you're never going to be good enough, are you?" The middle one sneered and, even though he tried to hide it, Sam saw Ray wince at the words.

That was when it hit her, in the sudden flash of anger at seeing Ray hurt, the key words that she had been too shocked to fully register before: traitor, blew up their base, stole their snag machine. Ray had obviously quit Team Snagem and made a point of crippling their operations in the process. And, based off of that last comment, she had been right about Ray having had a rough life. And besides, if there was one thing Sam believed, it was that someone who truly wanted to change should be given a second chance. How could she be cold enough to abandon him like this _knowing_ that he had all but given up hope on people because he had been so hurt by them in the past? She may not have known exactly how he had been hurt, but it wouldn't take a genius to know that was the reason for Ray's mistrust against everyone he saw.

"Well,"The middle goon continued after a slight pause, as if savoring the effect of his cruel comment, "I'd love to stay and chat, but we need to get going, so hand over the Snag machine now!"

"What _is_ a snag machine?" Sam asked, sick of being the only one there who didn't know. She hadn't visited Orre in years and, having arrived only a few days ago, was woefully behind in what had been going on recently.

"See that machine on Ray's arm?" The left goon asked, pointing to it.

"Yes! I'm not blind." Sam snapped. Her patience for these goons had been rapidly evaporating since what they had said to Ray moments before.

"Well, it converts regular Poké balls into Snag balls which allow the user to steal another trainer's Pokémon as easily as one would capture a wild Pokémon."

"Hey! Shut up, you idiot!" The right one shouted.

"Oops."

"Enough of this," The middle goon declared, "We'll just take it by force. So Corphish and Koffing!"

"Umbre." Eve snarled, stepping forward. [You'll try.]

"And fail." Ray said, apparently replying to Eve, with a smirk.

"Espi, esp!" Dawn yipped, leaping forward, ready to battle. [Now, this is going to be _fun_]

"Remind me to get you a dictionary." Ray replied teasingly.

"Esp?" [What? Why?]

"This is going to be way too easy to be fun." Ray replied with a menacing smile at the Team Snagem goon.

"Grrr. Corphish use bubble beam!" The Snagem member ordered, but Eve dodged the attack effortlessly.

"Dawn, use confusion on Koffing." Ray ordered coolly.

Sam was amazed, even though she knew that psychic type moves are super effective against poison types, she had not expected Dawn's attack to be powerful enough to knock of the Koffing in one hit.

The Corphish proved to be somewhat more difficult, as it took two bite attacks from Eve, while Dawn distracted it, to make it faint.

"Damn you, Ray! This isn't over. We'll get the Snag machine back, just you wait!" The middle goon declared before making a hasty retreat with the other two, while Dawn and Eve cried, what were most likely taunts and insults, after them.

"Ray, it's okay." Sam said softly after the Team Snagem members had gone.

"What do you mean?" Ray asked, still refusing to look at her.

"That you used to be part of Team Snagem." She answered gently.

"It **_is_**?" Ray asked, finally looking at her, his shock pain in his voice and expression.

"Yes, you can't be all that bad. I mean, it's pretty clear that you quit. And besides," She added smiling brightly, "You're still the gallant prince who rescued me."

Ray just stood there, starring at her, a look of complete shock frozen on his beautiful face.

"Anyway…" Sam continued self-consciously, significantly embarrassed by her extremely cheesy comment, "I was thinking that, maybe, we could use that Snag machine of yours to rescue those Pokémon. I mean, the one I saw probably wasn't the only one and it seemed so, so angry and hurt. Maybe we could… I mean, if you want to…"

Ray just continued to stare at her for a moment before he seemed to suddenly register what she had just said.

"Right," Ray said turning, quickly, away from her, "We should, uh, see if the, um, shop here has any Poke balls." He finished awkwardly, heading for the stairs.

Sam didn't follow him right away, partly to see how he would react, but mostly because she was astonished, she could have **_sworn_** that she had seen a slight blush on his cheeks, just before he had turned around, but surly that had just been her imagination playing tricks on her?

Ray descended a few steps before he seemed to realize that Sam was no longer following him. He stopped and turned around.

"Aren't you coming?" He asked softly, a slight hint of worry in his golden eyes. Maybe it was just the fact that having already descended a few steps made him seem smaller and him have to look up at her for a change, but, in that moment, he reminded her strongly of a little kid; unsure of what to do, asking for help, but uncertain if they will get any; a little scared, but a little hopeful too.

* * *

**Author: So in case you were wondering what Sam was going to say as they were leaving the Phenac Stadium here it is:**

**"Look, Ray, I know… I mean… I'm pretty sure, that, in the past, you've been mistreated by others, but that doesn't mean you should just give up on people."**

**Oh, dear sweet Sam, if you only knew…**

**Also in case you were wondering Sam is a Johto kid.**

**Plad: Question.**

**Author: Okay, shoot.**

**Plad: That weird guy, near the beginning**

**Author: Yah, that's Nascour.**

**Plad: What's up with Sam and Ray's reactions to him?**

**Author: Well, Sam's reaction was my immediate reaction the first time I saw him. My bad guy radar went nuts, I was all like "Oh, he's ****_definitely_**** going to be a bad guy!" **

**Ray's reaction is like when, a moment, and snide comment from my brother later, I was like "well, he might not be… he might just be that really weird ally you have to work with, even though he's kinda creepy"**

**Plus Ray's internal evil radar is kinda broken… **

**Plink: Why, is that.**

**Author: As the, soon to be fairly frequently used phrase goes, 'go live his life, then come back and ask me that question'**

* * *

**Expect chapter 8 by the end of January. It is a flash back chapter for Ray, so it has nothing to do with the game itself and therefore should be fairly easy for me to write. Thank you for your patience and I apologize for all the delays.**


	6. Chapter 6: Behind the Scenes

**Author Note:**

**These flash backs are not in chronological order. They are in order of what I feel is the most relevant and has the most impact for the point of the story they are put in.**

**This flash back is supposed to be what happened after his parents died and before his foster home. I'm honestly surprised by how short it turned out, but the second part of this flash back will be much longer so I guess that makes up the difference.**

**Plad: Is she asleep?**

**Plink: I think so.**

**Plad: Poor thing. Ya know the other day she told me that she was afraid she wouldn't be able to finish this chapter quickly because she was so sick she couldn't think straight.**

**Plink: I'm just glad that she's feeling better now and managed to finish this chapter.**

**Plad: Me too. Now she gets a well-deserved nap.**

**Plink: That she does.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Behind the Scenes

"Things aren't always what they seem

You're only seeing part of me

There's more than you could ever know

Behind the scenes

I'm incomplete and I'm undone

But I suppose like everyone

There's so much more that's going on

Behind the scenes"

~ "Behind the Scenes" by Francesca Battistelli

...

**Ray**

Finding out that the Pokémart in Phenac city didn't have any Poké balls had not been a very welcome surprise. Then again, Ray supposed it hadn't been much of a surprise, there weren't many wild Pokémon in Orre so there wasn't any demand for Poké balls. He had to admit, if it hadn't been for Sam insisting on asking around they wouldn't have learned that the Outskirt Stand may have some. Of course, that hadn't been welcome news for Ray either.

He wasn't fond of traveling; it gave him too much time to think. Whenever he spent a lot of time just thinking, it didn't matter what about, he would remember things from when he was a kid with such merciless detail that it was like reliving them all over again. As he drove back to the Outskirt Stand the memories that plagued him were the events right after the death of his parents. The first time that he had trusted someone and suffered the consequences.

* * *

Ray, only ten years old, cowered behind the couch, terrified and uncertain of what would happen next; clutching Dawn and Eve as close as he could without hurting them. It hurt him, though, his still fresh bruises and unhealed rib, but he didn't care; Dawn and Eve were far too important to him. He didn't know how much time had passed; he never found out, he'd never cared to, before the police came. He flinched at the harsh sound of their voices behind the front door, shrinking farther back into his hiding place. Then the police officers broke down the door, still shouting incoherent demands, to Ray at least, terrified as he was; bur not for himself, for the innocent Eevee's that he loved so dearly. Shortly after they had broken down the door; however, the officers fell strangely silent. The small group of four, perhaps five, took on a somber tone as they began to look, carefully, around, marking and taking in the scene.

It was one of the female officers, a hazel eyed brunet whom he didn't instantly mistrust, who found Ray, shaking and clutching his Eevee's, behind the couch. She crouched down and gently coaxed him, with kind words and subtle gestures, out from his hiding place. Even though she told him not to look Ray did, curious as to what had happened. He hadn't heard anything from either of his parents since the two, what he would later come to recognize as gunshots, that had rung through the house. Surely his mother, at the very least, would have reacted to the police officers?! The sumptuous blue-gray carpet of the living room was bathed in blood around the unmoving forms of his father and mother, her silvery blond hair almost completely coated in red. Although the thought of his parents being dead filled him with a certain trepidation of uncertainty, he was old enough to understand that it meant they would never be able to hurt him again; a thought that filled him with joy and relief.

The first time she reached for his hand Ray flinched away from her, frightened by her sudden movement towards him. Eve, on the floor, Dawn was in his arms, arched her back and hissed softly, though she still hid behind him as she did so. The officer, who had undoubtedly taken note of the healing wounds and telltale marks of old ones, visible on his arms, bare below the short sleeves of his shirt, and understood what they meant, didn't reach for him again right away, but softly reassured Ray that she wouldn't hurt him. Ray eyed her warily, unused to such gentleness and suspicious of its origin and intent.

"It's okay;" She whispered softly, "no one here is going to hurt you. Would it help if I told you my name?" She asked, drawing a small, timid nod from Ray as an answer.

"Alright, my name's Malarie. What's your name?" She asked, even though she already knew, after all, his parents were famous.

"Ray." He whispered so softly that he could barely hear himself, but he was too frightened to muster anything louder than that.

"Ray," She said gently, kneeling down so that she was eye level with him, "you're going to have to come back to the police station with me now, but only for a little while. You see, we're going to do everything we can to find you a new family as quickly as possible, but I promise that your new family will love you and never hurt you. They'll protect you and keep you safe, just like parents are _supposed _to, okay?"

Ray nodded, he couldn't quite imagine what Malarie had described to him, but he had read about it in books and he truly wanted to believe it was something that really existed; a happy, safe and loving home. And besides it's not like he really had much of a choice as to whether he went with Malarie or not, but even if he had, he still would have gone with her because he wanted to believe what she had told him.

Malarie had been right, he had only stayed there for a short time, three, maybe four, days; he couldn't quite remember. What he _did_ remember was what had happened on his last day there.

He had been sitting at Malarie's desk, reading a book. He had come to like Malarie very much; she seemed genuinely nice and took really good care of him. And when she had to go out on a call she would let him stay in her office so that no one else would bother him; she knew how skittish he was around anyone but her and she always did her best to make sure he felt safe. Dawn and Eve had fallen asleep in the corner on a little bed that Malarie had bought just for them. Ray, having just finished the book he had been reading, set it down and stretched a little; that was when he saw her. It was so strange, out of the hundreds, probably more like thousands, of people he seen, but never spoken to, there was one that he couldn't forget and it was her. To this day he didn't know her name, but he figured that if he ever saw her again he would recognize her. She had looked to be roughly the same age as him, a little older, 11 or 12 perhaps, with long dirty blonde hair, dark gold eyes, and a smile on her face. Maybe that was why he couldn't forget her, she had looked a little like him and she was there too, very likely for a similar reason as himself, but she looked completely happy, like no one had ever given her a reason to be sad or to be afraid of other people. After a moment she turned her head a little and caught sight of him. Her smile brightened, if that was even possible, and she tugged on the sleeve of the police officer she had been following, who was now talking to one of her coworkers. He could see the little girl say something and a moment later the officer looked at him too as the little girl's gaze returned to him. He didn't recognize this particular officer and, judging by the expression on her face, she didn't recognize him either. Shaking her head and saying something to the girl that made her look a little disappointed, thought her eyes never left Ray, the officer returned to her conversation. A few minutes later, after the officer had evidently finished whatever business she had come for, she and the little girl had left. Ray never saw the girl again, but her memory nagged him from that day onward.

Malarie had come back a few hours later, smiling brightly.

"I have some good news." She had told him.

"What is it?" Ray asked, jumping down from Malarie's big computer chair and scampering over to her, looking up at her with an earnest, innocent smile.

"We found a foster home for you."

Ray's smile instantly vanished. Malarie made him feel safe and took good care of him, he was afraid that these new parents wouldn't. He didn't want things to go back to the way they'd been before.

"What's wrong Ray?" Malarie asked, kneeling down to his level, "You don't look too happy about that."

"Can't I just stay with you?" Ray asked softly, trying not to cry.

"Ray, I'm sorry, but I can't keep you. I was only ever supposed to take care of you until we found you a new family." She told him, her smile starting to waver a little, her eyes beginning to tear up.

"But what if they're the same?" Ray asked in a small, frightened voice.

"They won't be," Malarie reassured him, "you'll see. They'll take very good care of you, better even than I have. They'll love you and protect you, not hurt you, I promise."

But Malarie had been wrong. She had promised him so much and in the end it had all been a lie. He had liked her, trusted her, and paid for it with even more pain and misery. And yet, here he was with Sam, about to make the same exact mistake as he had made back then.

* * *

**Author: Yah, sick and tired, that's me. **

**A quick note on Malarie and the mystery girl. I put the mystery girl in this scene because I thought it would be cool to have had her and Ray's paths cross before they meet each other in the third part of the series. Malarie might make a reappearance in the sequel, but I am planning on doing a one shot for her part of the story because Malarie's side of what happened is very interesting, so look for "Malarie's Regret" it might be coming soon.**

**Plink: It hardly seems fair.**

**Author: What is that?**

**Plink: That he's blaming Malarie for how his life turned out. I highly doubt she had any idea.**

**Author: He was ten, Plink! Ten! What's the poor boy supposed to think?**

**Plink: Yah, but-**

**Author: Silence!**

**Plad: Bad pun…**

**Author: Oh, go away. That's exactly why I think my name is awkward.**


	7. Chapter 7: Imperfection

**Author Note: I'm sick of saying "author" I'm Sammie, yes that's where I got Sam from. Hey, Ray (Wes whatever) is ****_cute_****! That's my only defense ^^; **

**...**

**Sammie: I'm so happy [twirling around in computer chair] Ahead of schedule ****_and_**** two monologues. ( XD )**

**Plink: What are you going to do when it's May 1st and you're already done with May's chapter? I mean you're getting way ahead of your schedule and you said yourself Pyrite is not going to go well without some notes to help you**

**Sammie: ( -.- ) Cut scenes**

**Plink: Come again?**

**Sammie: Cute, funny scenes with Dawn and Eve that let you know how they're feeling about all of this. Dawn being on Team Ray X Sam and Eve being on Team Forever Alone**

**Plad: I approve, good idea ( =D )**

**Sammie: Thanks.**

**Plad: Can I say a couple of things our readers should keep in mind as they read?**

**Sammie: [nods]**

**Plad: Willie is a very intuitive person. Sam is a very observant person. And when we talk about Ray being "alone" we're referring to in relation to other humans, not Pokémon; Dawn and Eve aren't going anywhere, ever.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Imperfection

"You're worth so much [so easily crushed]

Wanna be like everyone else

No one escapes, every breath we take

Dealing with our own skeletons, skeletons

You fall to your knees, you beg, you plead

Can I be somebody else for all the times I hate myself?

Your failures devour, your heart in every hour

You're drowning in your imperfection."

~ "Imperfection" by: Skillet

...

**Sam**

Ray's mood had changed from when they had left Phenac city, drastically so. Sam didn't understand what had caused this; when they had left he had begun to warm up to her, she thought, but now he was as cold and cut off as he had been when she'd first met him. He wouldn't look at her and didn't say a single word as they got off the bike and began to head towards the Outskirt Stand.

Standing outside, well right of the door, was a teenage boy with oddly pink hair, who looked very anxious. The second he spotted them he ran over,

"Hey Ray! Man am I glad to see you." He called out as he approached. Sam looked at Ray quizzically, he knew this person? Ray looked a little stunned, but not as surprised as she thought he would be if this were a complete stranger to him; more like he just wasn't sure how to react the teen's words. The other boy stopped when he was still well out of arms reach from Ray, which told Sam that he must have interacted with Ray at least enough to know that Ray felt more comfortable with other people at that distance. Sam couldn't help but notice, even as far away as he was, that his hair was dyed because his eyebrows were a caramelly brown color rather than pink.

"I was really worried about you," he continued, "some rough looking fellows came through here a little while ago, from Team Snagem by the looks of them. I'm glad to see that you're okay. In fact," he added with a friendly, if somewhat mischievous grin, "it looks like you've even already managed to find yourself a girlfriend."

"Oh no, it's not that–" Sam began to protest; after all she had only just met Ray. Not that she didn't _like_ him, he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen and she knew, even if she'd only caught a glimpse of it, that underneath his cold, hard exterior was a very sweet and wonderful person. It was just that she'd only known him for what, two, three hours maybe? The boy's laughter cut through her inner babbling.

"I'm just messing with ya. Name's Willie, nice to meet you." He said with a friendly smile.

"Oh, I'm Sam; it's nice to meet you too."

"C'mon," Ray muttered impatiently, stalking off towards the old, dilapidated entrance ramp, "we came here for a reason, remember?"

Eve followed him immediately, but Dawn hesitated after a few steps, lingering near Sam, her ears flicking back, as if in irritation, at Ray's final comment.

"Oh yah, sorry." Sam called back. She partly turned around as she began to follow Ray so she could call a quick good-bye to Willie.

"Bye Willie, see you later."

"See ya, take care!" Willie called back with a friendly wave.

Ray, having reached the end of the ramp, looked back to make sure that Sam was following him, but only for a split second and Sam was certain, seeing the abruptness with which he turned away, that either he had hoped she would be looking away or that it was something he had told himself he would not do, but had done anyway.

Once they got inside Ray walked straight over to the shorter end of the bar counter, where the owner of the Outskirt Stand was currently standing.

"Is there something I can help you two with?" He asked with a welcoming smile when he saw Ray and Sam approaching.

"Yah, we heard that you might have some Poké balls." Sam answered immediately.

"Poké balls? Not much demand for those around here. I might still have some though, let me look." He replied thoughtfully.

Sam waited beside Ray with a mixture of tentative triumph and nervous apprehension as he walked to the other end of the counter and began to rummage through the boxes that were stored there; while they were waiting Ray and Sam sat down on the bar stools. Dawn immediately jumped up into Ray's lap, rubbing her face fondly against his cheek. Ray laughed and rubbed her head lovingly between her ears.

"That's my pretty girl." He crooned through his laughter and kissed her forehead gently before continuing to rub her head. It was the first time Sam had ever heard him laugh and she was almost certain that she forgot how to breathe in that moment. And the tender love that always filled his golden eyes every time he looked at the twin eons was something she thought she could never quite get used to, it always managed to take her breath away. Eve, seemingly a little jealous of the attention that her sister was receiving, stood up on her hind legs, resting her paws on Ray's thigh. Ray laughed again; his laugh was a soft one, but beautiful and heartfelt, reaching out with his left hand to stroke Eve as well.

"I love you too, my beauty." He murmured lovingly to her.

...

"Here they are!" The owner exclaimed a couple of minutes later, walking back to the, with a box filled with Poké balls and, by the looks of it, some Great and Ultra balls as well, "They're a little dusty, but they should still work fine. Just to be sure though, I'll just give you five for free."

"Oh, thank you so much." Sam replied gratefully.

"No problem at all. Who knows how long these things have just been sitting here unsold. Now that I've dug them up though, I might as well just put them out here with everything else."

"Just to be on the safe side," Ray said, the first words he had spoken to either of them since he had Sam had got inside, "I'll go ahead and buy ten more Poké balls and three Great balls while we're here."

...

"Why did you buy some Great balls too?" Sam asked as they were walking back outside. She was genuinely curious; she didn't see any reason for it.

"Because I don't want to get stuck in a situation where I need one and not have any on hand." Ray answered, with the same harsh, annoyed tone that he had used with her when they had been walking to the Phenac Stadium. Sam knew, because she had seen the kinder, vulnerable, side of him, that this, this coldness and harshness was really just an act. What she didn't understand was **_why_** he did this. Sure she had her theory that life and the world had not been kind to him, but she didn't know if it was correct. And, even if it was, he had started to warm up to her before they had left Phenac City. What had caused him to suddenly, inexplicably, close himself off from her again? She had to find out.

"Ray?"

He sighed,

"Do you ever stop asking questions?"

"No, as a matter of fact I don't." Sam retorted somewhat indignantly, irked by his response to her, "If I want to know something, I ask, period."

Ray glanced quickly at her, his brow arched in surprise and the beginnings of a small smile at the corner of his mouth. She couldn't help but think he looked a little amused, or maybe even a little impressed. '_Oh stop that.' _She scolded herself, _'Just who are you trying to kid, anyway?'_

"Alright then," Ray conceded with a resigned tone, "What is it this time?"

Sam bit at her bottom lip a little for a moment, thinking of the best way to word her question without scaring him off from answering her. She decided that her best bet would be to soften him up a bit first.

* * *

**Ray**

_'Is she going to ask me a question or not?'_ Ray wondered. For a moment he almost asked her, a little worried that he had been too harsh and Sam no longer wanted to talk to him, but he didn't. This is what he wanted wasn't it; for her to leave him alone? In all honesty, it _wasn't _what he **_truly_** wanted, but what he truly wanted was something he knew, at least now, that he would never have.

"What's your favorite thing to do?" Sam asked suddenly.

Ray stopped walking, utterly stunned by her question. He could barely even remember the last, and until just now only, time that someone had asked him that. It was such a personal question, a question that required the asker caring, at least a little bit, about the person they were asking. And it had been so sudden, so unlike her pervious question. He looked over at her, unable to hide the small spark of happiness in his golden eyes at her question as he answered her.

"Other than taking care of my Pokémon? Honestly, I really love reading; it's such a wonderful way to escape." He finished without thinking,

"Escape?" Sam echoed, her voice as concerned as the expression on her face.

"Yah," Ray replied softly. As apprehensive as he was about trusting another person he was beginning to realize that he didn't really want to drive Sam away, "but I'd really rather not talk about it, so please don't ask."

"Okay." Sam agreed with a gentle smile.

Ray looked at her quizzically, shocked by her simple acceptance of his wishes.

"I don't believe in judging people on their past," Sam responded to his unasked question, "so if there's something that you don't want to talk about that's fine with me. And just because I am very curious and ask a lot of questions does not mean that I can't respect the fact that there may be some painful things someone doesn't want to share about themselves. I may be wrong in this assumption, but I would be willing to bet that you have had a very hard time for at least part of your life and that's led you to make some really bad mistakes. I suppose, what I'm trying to say is that everyone makes mistakes. Some people make worse ones than others, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are a bad person. Honestly, I think the fact that you broke away from Team Snagem, especially in the way that you did, speaks volumes to your character, in a _good_ way. I don't think you are a bad person at all. I think that you are a very god person with a kind heart, but you've been badly hurt and that's why you keep trying to push me away by acting so cold most of the time. But no matter how hard you try to hide it Ray, I **_know_** that you're a kind person. I've seen it; in the way you talked about Dawn and Eve, in the love and tenderness with which you always look at them, and in the rare moments when you've opened up, even just a tiny bit, to me. No, you're not perfect. Yes, you've made mistakes. But, in the end, I truly believe that you _are_ a good person and that you just need someone to care enough about you to help you."

Ray stood stock still, paralyzed by her words. He knew that there was no way she could possibly imagine the horrors that he had lived through, but, at the same time, she had struck the fear that had haunted him from moment he had found out that Team Snagem had used and lied to him and his deepest wish so perfectly; even to the point of implying that **_she_** cared enough about him to want to help him.

"Do you?" Ray asked softly, more than half afraid of what her answer would be.

"Yes, I do," Sam answered earnestly, "but I can't help you if you won't let me, Ray. I'm so confused, I mean, back in Phenac I thought, at least it _seemed_ like, that you were beginning to warm up to me a little, but when we got here you were so cold again, until just now. Why Ray? What happened between there and here that made you do that?"

Ray couldn't answer her. That was a question he simply was not ready to answer. He **_hated_** thinking about his past, having to remember it was awful enough, how could he possibly force himself to talk about it, the details of it? He certainly couldn't answer her, not truthfully at least and he didn't want to lie to her, without talking about his past.

"Look," Ray responded, his voice coming out much more harshly than he would have liked, strung with the echoes of all the agony that he had already suffered in his young life, "I'm sure that you really do want to help me, at least right now, but there's nothing you can do for me." Then, his voice softened, though it was no less pained, now simply hollow and dead, "What's done is done. I've looked straight into the compassionless, pitiless, eyes of the Devil herself. I've stumbled through hell and crawled out, only to be dragged right back in and there is **_nothing_** that you, or anyone else, can say, or do, to change that. There is _nothing_ in this world that could **_possibly_** convince me to look back and think that; maybe, it wasn't all that bad after all. I already gave my heart, my trust, my willingness, **_eagerness_**, to believe that there was, or could be, good in the world; true good, good that wouldn't just go away after a short time and abandon me alone in hell again, away. And what I got for it was even worse, in some ways, that everything that had come before. How can you expect me to just forget that? How can you expect me to just open up to you like none of that ever happened? I can't, okay. Just like there's nothing that you can do to help me." Ray delivered his aggrieved monologue without so much as a single glance at Sam, fixing his haunted gaze on the horizon.

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

There was something in her voice, Ray couldn't quite identify exactly _what_ is was, but there was **_something_** in Sam's voice when she said that that compelled Ray to look at her. Her sapphire eyes were dark with sympathy and compassion, rimmed with tears that glistened in the sunlight.

"But I'm not going to just give up on you."

Ray shrugged listlessly, hoping to let the subject drop. He felt kind of bad for what he had said and, even though every word had been true, he wasn't entirely certain that he wanted Sam to give up and leave him all alone again. _'I must be a special kind of stupid,'_ Ray thought wryly, _'to keep wanting the companionship of another human, despite everything that's happened. But, who knows, maybe the third time really is the charm, maybe…'_

"Well I guess we should just head back to Phenac City then, unless you have a better idea that is." Ray suggested mildly.

Sam just shook her head, but the small smile that shone on her face, despite the tears that were still ringing her eyes, did more to reassure him that she really wouldn't give up on him more than anything she could have said.

* * *

**Sammie: Since I like to do a, what I call "By The Way Section" on DeviantArt, I thought it would be fun to assign the boys to do that here. Actually give them a job besides comic relief and smart ass-ness. ( ^^ )**

**Plad: *papers rustling* Where was it… where did I put it… [grabs paper] Here it is! [reads said paper] The answer to whether Ray was hoping that Sam wasn't looking or he told himself that he wouldn't look back and failed is… both**

**Plink: *sigh* [shakes head at Plad] There is a pretty funny story behind why Willie's hair is dyed that we will get to hear soon**

**Sammie: And for my part, the whole buying Great balls thing is something I always do, my rule is to always have tons of Poké balls, lots of Great balls and as many Ultra balls as I can manage, it's like Ray said, you don't want to get in a spot where you need one and not have one.**


	8. Cut Scene 1

Team RayXSam VS. Team Forever Alone

...

**Sammie: A quick note on these "cut scene" chapters, they are a lot like what a "deleted scene" in a movie would be, they are important and have some good information, but not so much so that they can't be cut.**

**Plink: Then why share it then? ( -.- )**

**Plad: Because she needs to kill some time, miss hey I'm done within the first few days of February so I'm going to post it, even though chapter 8 is going to take a ****_really_**** long time.**

**Sammie: ( :p )**

* * *

Eve was not happy. It wasn't because the side car was now fairly cramped, compared to when it had just held her and Dawn, though that was annoying; she just didn't like Sam being around period. Eve had seen Ray hurt time and time again by people who had pretended to care about him and she knew full well how easy it would be for him to fall right back into that same trap again. His heart was so gentle, good and kind that it was hard for him not to hope, not to believe in good, even when that belief, that hope, had only ever hurt him. Eve, more than anyone, even Ray himself, thought that the best thing for him would be to just cut himself off from people.

Eve glanced over at her twin and rolled her eyes in frustration. Dawn had very quickly taken a liking to Sam; having no problem with snuggling up in the ginger haired teen's lap as they all rode in the side car together. Eve sat as close to Ray as she could.

"Dawn!" She hissed, leaning close to her sister's ear, partly so that Dawn would hear her above the engine and partly so as to make sure that Ray would not hear them.

"What?" Dawn shouted back.

"Shh!" Eve scolded, cuffing Dawn lightly on the ear, "Ray will hear you."

"So?" Dawn mumbled, rubbing her ear in irritation.

"So, I want to talk to you without Ray overhearing us."

"Fine, whatever." Dawn agreed, "So, what's up?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Eve demanded with a meaningful glare at Sam.

"What's wrong with _me_?!" Dawn asked, incredulous, "What's wrong with **_you_**? Don't you want Ray to be happy?"

"Of course I do!" Eve exclaimed indignantly, arching her back in anger, "That's why I don't want Sam around."

Dawn snorted disbelievingly,

"Are you brain dead?" She inquired, leaning close to her sister, "She's exactly what he **_needs_**. You know as well as I do that Ray needs another human in his life; it's not natural for the only ones who love him and care about him to only be Pokémon."

"I know that," Eve shot back, "but isn't there a point where it isn't worth it anymore?" She persisted, "Remember what happened last time?"

"Of course I do," Dawn replied indignantly, "it was only yesterday. I also remember that **_I_** was right."

Eve flinched a little at her twin's words. She knew that Dawn hadn't brought that up to hurt her, or to be mean; just to prove her point, but it still stung. Dawn had been the only one who was wary of joining Team Snagem, saying that she just had a bad feeling about Viper. Eve had been the first one to dismiss it as nervous anxiety; of course, Dawn had readily believed her, but still.

"I know you feel bad about that Eve, but you can't let that make you jump to conclusions." Dawn added gently, rubbing her cheek against Eve's affectionately.

"But you're jumping to the conclusion that having Sam around will be fine." Eve protested.

"Am not," Dawn retorted, "I'm just saying that she deserves a chance because I want Ray to be happy, though I will admit that I do have a good feeling about her." Dawn admitted grudgingly.

"I hope you're right," Eve murmured, "for Ray's sake."

Eve wasn't sure how much more heartache their young, broken trainer could endure and keep his kind, gentle heart.

* * *

**Sammie: *sighs* Ah I love siblings.**

**Plad: Well you do have a brother and a sister.**

**Sammie: I know right? And we _still_ fight like that all the time. ( XD )**

**Plink: Why are you making that sound like a good thing?**

**Sammie: Because I hearts my brother. ( ^^ )**


	9. Chapter 8: Welcome to My Life

**Sammie: Oh my gosh you guys I'm so sorry I'm so behind, I'm sorry (puppy dog eyes)**

**Plad: That's what you get for falling for falling head over heels for a guy ( -.- )**

**Plink: [elbows him in the ribs] What he means to say is that were happy for you, but you shouldn't allow talking to him to interfere with your work**

**Sammie: I know ( ;n; ) And I was so tired for the whole first like 20 days of this month that I swear I couldn't think straight **

**Plad: Excuses, excuses, tsk tsk tsk **

**Sammie: It's the truth, whatda want me to do, lie?**

**Plad: Hey that's _my_ line!**

* * *

Chapter 8: Welcome to My Life

"No one ever lied straight to your face

And no one ever stabbed you in the back

You might think I'm happy, but I'm not gonna be okay

Everybody always gave you what you wanted

You never had to work, it was always there

You don't know what it's like [what it's like]

To be hurt, to feel lost, to be left out in the dark

To be kicked, when you're down, to feel like you've been pushed around

To be on the edge of breaking down and no one's there to save you

No you don't know what it's like

Welcome to my life."

~ "Welcome to My Life" by: Simple Plan

...

Ray had never been so confused and at war with himself before. His life had been a lot of negative things, but never confusing and unclear like it was now. First his life had been a life had been a living hell for ten years, then he had been granted a few good, happy days before he had been thrown right back into a perpetual hell. Even when he had been part of Team Snagem –something he would regret for the rest of his life– he had known what to expect and how he felt about everything. Until he found out that he had been used and lied to, but even then everything was clear to him; he'd screwed up, done something so horrible he could never forgive himself, and he had to get away.

But now, now he didn't know what to think, about anything. He couldn't stand it, all these mixed feelings he had for Sam were all but driving him crazy. He wanted to trust her, he really did, but it was so _hard_; he didn't want to be hurt again, he was so tired of being hurt and lied to. God, he just wanted it all to be _**over**_! But he couldn't make that happen, not then, not now, not as long as his Pokémon lived. '_What about Sam?'_ The question rang, unbidden, through his mind. '_Arceus! What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I stop thinking about her?'_ Maybe it was because; in the back of his mind he knew she was right there beside him. '_If you're really so tired of being lied to why in the world are you sitting here lying to yourself?'_ Ray thought wryly. The truth was that there was something about her that just seemed… different. She was so kind and gentle and patient with him, it was amazing. But, then again, Malarie had been all those things too and Ray remembered, all too well, how that had ended.

* * *

Malarie didn't go with him when Ray was dropped off at his foster home –the day after she had told him that they'd found him one. He was scared and sad, and desperately wished that she was there with him. The moment he saw the house that was to be his new home for the first time he had wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and never let go. He wanted to stay with Malarie, to go back to _her_ home; he was too scared of this new place, but that didn't seem to matter to anyone else, save for Dawn and Eve, but they as much –if not less– say in the matter as he did. The two officers who had brought him there and his new "parents" had barely even glanced at him the entire time they they'd sat around talking, never once addressing him.

Then, after the officers had left, his foster parents Wendy and Bradley had laid out for him the rules he was expected to follow. Mostly they amounted to him just being quiet, staying out of the way, and not bothering them. Ray had just nodded; he was still too frightened and nervous to speak, holding Dawn close to him while Eve hid behind his legs. Then, they had called their son Colton– a fourteen year old with dark brown, almost black hair and dark brown eyes – down from his room upstairs. Colton had just glared at Ray like he was some disgusting pest, ordered him to "stay the hell away from him and his room" and tromped back upstairs without so much as a "Colton!" from either of his parents who instantly went back to their day as if nothing had happened, as if Ray didn't even exist.

Later that night Ray's foster parents had told him that he was to go to school the next day. Ray had never even seen a school before, but he had read about them before in books so he had an idea of what they were supposed to be like. On the one hand he was very nervous and scared, but he was also excited at the prospect of being able to lean more.

…

His first day of school had been terrifying at first; he had never been around so many people before, despite having grown up at the edge of one of the biggest, most populous cities in the world. As the day went on; however, Ray slowly became more comfortable. Although he still kept to himself, barely saying anything, and flinched reflexively whenever someone came too close to him, he began to like school. He was naturally curious and loved learning so despite his fears –and the fact that Dawn and Eve couldn't be there with him– Ray had decided that school wasn't all that bad, even kind of fun. His judgment quickly changed; however, when lunch time came around.

Lunch itself was alright; it was when recess came that Ray encountered problems. Ray unsure of what to do and far too shy to speak to a single soul, all but hid in the farthest corner of the playground. Not long into recess a group of sixth graders, four boys and two girls, found him. Back then Ray had been quite small for his age and no less slight of frame than in his later years, that along with being the new kid, not to mention his diffidence, made him a prime target for the cruelty of the older kids.

"Hey kid! Whatcha doin' all the way back here, huh?" One of the two boys at the front of the group –the taller one with black hair– asked with a sneer. Ray shrank back from them; he'd seen that look before, it was the same way his mother had always looked at him.

"I-I… I…" Ray spluttered; he wanted to say that he wasn't doing anything because that was the truth, but the words wouldn't come out.

The second boy, who was much shorter than the one who had spoken though still considerably taller than Ray laughed, a harsh, almost feral sounding laugh.

"Aw look at him Wyatt; the pathetic little wimp is scared."

The black haired boy, Wyatt, chuckled; a sound so malicious it turned Ray's blood to ice.

"Well then Hunter, why don't we give him something to be scared _of_, huh?" Wyatt responded with an evil grin as he shoved Ray harshly to the ground. Ray's elbow struck the hard packed earth painfully, wringing a small yelp of pain from him. The other kids laughed, as if his pain was prime entertainment for them. Ray, acclimated as he was to simply taking continual abuse, made no attempt to get up.

"Hey! Why don't you get up, huh kid?" Hunter demanded in a sneering, taunting tone. When Ray didn't respond Hunter kicked him, hard, yanking another sharp exclamation of pain from Ray's small frame. The other kids laughed again and when Ray still did not retaliate or protest they began to beat Ray mercilessly. Only when the bell that ended recess rang did they stop and leave Ray, bruised and battered, lying on the pitiless ground. After a few moments Ray slowly picked himself up and followed all of the other kids back into the school. After that incident Ray was even more skittish and reclusive than before, barely even raising his hand in response to the teacher calling his name in roll.

Finally, the school day ended and Ray began to walk back to his foster home. It still terrified him, the noise and constant motion of the city; the lights, all the people shouting and the stench of gasoline assaulted his senses without any mercy or remorse. Despite growing up right on the edge of it Ray had never been truly able to truly imagine what the city was like. When he was about a block away; however, Ray got a pleasant, if somewhat distressing, surprise; Dawn and Eve running down the sidewalk to him.

"Dawn? Eve?" Ray exclaimed in joyful surprise, although it worried him see them out and about, he was overjoyed to see them, "What are you two doing out here?" He asked just as Dawn hurtled herself into his arms, Eve twinning herself around his legs.

"We knew you'd be on your way home right now and we couldn't wait to see you." Dawn replied, starring up at him with her big, innocent brown eyes.

"Meaning Dawn wouldn't stop bugging me about running out to meet you halfway instead of waiting inside like you asked us to." Eve retorted.

"You know what Eve–" Dawn began hotly, twisting a little in Ray's arms to glare at her sister, but cut off when her paw, touching one of his new bruises, made him gasp in pain.

"Ray are you okay?" Dawn asked worriedly.

"What happened?" Eve asked immediately after Dawn.

"I'm fine," Ray reassured them, though his voice didn't sound convincing even to himself, "it's just a few bruises, that's all. It's nothing I'm not used to."

"But I thought all that was over!" Dawn cried, nuzzling close to him. Ray shrugged slightly.

"I guess not." He replied sadly.

Later that night Ray had told his foster parents about what had happened at school that day with such innocent confusion that only the hardest of hearts would have been able to react with anything but the gentlest sympathy for him and righteous furry at the perpetrators of the crime. He was confused because being beaten and abused was all he'd ever really known, but based on how Malarie and the other officers had reacted he'd begun to think those things were horrible, but no sooner had he been separated from their protective care than he encountered the same abuse as before. Unfortunately for Ray his foster parents had selfish hearts of the hardest stone, having only taken him in for the money that foster parents received for their services. So when Ray came to them confused and looking for an explanation their reaction was the opposite of love or sympathy. They were annoyed by Ray's heartfelt inquiry and, in response, beat him and sent him to his room.

…

Over the next two years things only got worse for Ray. The abuse, both at home and at school gradually intensified. Middle school was especially unkind to Ray –though he only had to endure it for a few months– being by far the cruelest level of school in general. At home Wendy mostly just abused him verbally, though the ways in which she did so were as various as they were vicious. Bradley participated in both verbal and physical abuse of Ray, but could not be compared to his wife or son in the scope of each –Wendy and Colton being far worse than him. Colton was almost as cruel to Ray as his mother had been; not only beating him, but inflicting other terrible injuries on him as well. Ray hid the signs of abuse with surprising skill, afraid that a teacher's reaction to it would be the same as his foster parent's reaction had been.

He did have one small memory of happiness –that didn't involve Dawn and Eve– from that time though. It had happened during the optional recess that the Middle School provided at the end of lunch as a sort of transition from Elementary School to High School. Ray always went outside despite the beatings he routinely endured from the bullies when he did so because he loved being outside, he loved the feel of the sun on his face and the warmth it provided, even in the cold, how the breeze would gently ruffle his ashy-gold-blonde hair, and watching it rustle the tree branches playfully. It was an especially cold Tuesday a few months into his seventh grade year when instead of one of the bullies and their gang finding him it was an eighth grade girl with pure ashy blonde, almost grey hair. Ray had caught a glimpse of her in the halls several times, but had never before spoken to her. The girl –he couldn't remember her name for the life of him– had attempted to persuade him to come and play with her and some friends. Ray had timidly refused, but she didn't leave; she had stayed there, talking to him instead.

Every day that week she had looked for, and found, him and talked to him. She still made attempts to coax him out to play, but they were always in vain. She didn't seem to mind though, always staying there with him, smiling and speaking kindly to him, respecting the distance he preferred to stay from people and that he did not like being touched. He had warmed to her slowly, even looking forward to seeing her every day. That Friday; however, would be the last time he ever saw her.

On his way back "home" after school –Dawn and Eve having met him outside the school as usual– Ray was stopped by Colton and his gang of friends. Ray had known he was in for it the second he saw them and the evil grin on Colton's face, but he'd had no way of knowing just how bad it would be. When the brutal beating was finally over Ray was certain that he had at least two broken ribs, probably more, a broken collar bone and fractured shin. Colton, even with his friends had never gone that far before. Ray could barely even stand, stumbling into a nearby alley. Dawn and Eve, who had hid during the assault at Ray's request, followed him. Ray slumped down with his back against the cold wall of one of the buildings, exhausted and in more pain than he had felt in two years, Dawn and Eve nuzzling close to him as he fell into an uneasy sleep.

The three of them had stayed in that alley for almost three weeks while Ray recovered from some of his worse injuries. As far as Ray could tell no one had gone looking for him and he was glad. He didn't want to go back to his foster home ever again. And he never did.

* * *

In the distance Ray could finally see Phenac City. He risked a quick glace to his left, praying that Sam would not see, it still amazed him how quickly Dawn had become attached to Sam, sitting in her lap as they rode. He hoped Sam wouldn't ever ask him why he never put them in their Poké-balls because the truth was they didn't have any. He kept that a closely guarded secret, knowing how easily that could be taken advantage of. But, at the same time, he felt that he could trust Sam for some reason. He sighed, even if she really did mean him no harm –like the girl he had met in Middle School –it seemed that four days was the limit to how long he could be with such a person before they disappeared from his life forever.

* * *

**Sammie: Again I am so sorry for the late update and thank you so much for your patience. I promise I will write a lot in June –when I get the game back– to make up for all this. Now for the "By The Way Section" of the "show" that will hopefully provide some helpful/ interesting information**

**Plad: The school system Ray in as Elementary School as K-6 and Middle School as 7-8**

**Plink: In case it wasn't clear, Ray started out in 5th grade**

**Plad: Also Ray gets most of his height growth between the ages of 13-15**

**Plink: Dawn and Eve were still Eevees at the time of the flash back, even at the end.**

**Sammie: If you ever have any questions feel free to ask me. It helps me a lot as a writer. Thank you.**


	10. Chapter 9: I'm Not the One

**Sammie: Oh my gosh y'all I'm sooooooo sorry please forgive me ( ;n; ) I know I'm super late things have been so crazy for me lately I've been so exhausted and I don't even know why. I tried to do a really good job on this chapter I promise it's super important to me and is one of my personal favorites so proof reading and editing took longer than usual, plus it's ****_super_**** long. But I know those are just excuses I'm ****_so_**** sorry. I promised and I let you down I'm sorry. May's will most likely be late too, I have exams the week after next ( ;n; ) I'm so sorry, in advance, I'm ****_so _****sorry.**

**Plad: Alright already! Quit apologizing there are format changes remember?**

**Plink: *sigh* ****_I'll_**** tell them. First off it's all in 3****rd**** person omniscient now all the way through, sorry if you're not fond of that style, but it really is best for this story. Also because of that Pokémon dialog will be slightly different quotation marks are what everyone else hears, the literal sounds if you will, brackets are what they are ****_actually_**** saying and what Ray hears.**

* * *

**Author Note: I'm sorry that I forgot to tell y'all this sooner.**

**Okay so thanks to my only consistent reviewer (thank you so much for all the encouragement, you know who you are XD) I was reminded that I forgot to explain why the first shadow Pokémon is Houndoom and not Makuhita. I may get some hate for saying this, but I don't like Makuhita and I think its evolution is ugly so I'm gonna use my creative license so that I don't have to use any Pokémon I don't particularly like in my fanfic. I love Houndoom as a Pokémon and I already had a Houndoom becoming very important to the plot and he's really quite sweet. So, with that in mind I chose Houndoom to take Makuhita's place as a shadow Pokémon. Also the shadow Pokémon will only get nicknames when as their personalities become more apparent Ray can decide on a nickname that suits them they will not be called Houndoom and Quilava forever.**

* * *

Chapter 9: I'm Not the One

"You're way too young to be broken; you're way too young to fall apart,

You're way too young to play these games, but you'd better start, but you'd better start,

This is when it starts, from the beating of your heart till the street lamps talk to you,

Jumping off of the edge or asleep in your head, everything's turning dark to you,

I went to pick up the parts, the doctor's hiding the charts, he won't let me see this side of you,

It's on the tip of my tongue you know you're way too young to have someone lie to you,

I'm not the one; I'm not the one, who wants to hurt you,

I'm not the one; I'm not the one, who wants to hurt you,

You'd better find somebody else and get a hold of yourself,

I'm not the one; I'm not the one, who wants to hurt you,

I'm not the one; I'm not the one, who wants to hurt you."

~"I'm Not the One" by: 3OH!3

...

Sam bit the inside of her cheek, stubbornly refusing to give in to the temptation to start asking Ray questions again. Ever since they had come within sight distance of Phenac city Ray had been periodically glancing at her for no apparent reason; it was all but driving her insane; not that she _didn't_ want him to look at her, in fact, she rather liked that he did, it was just so odd. She had already resisted the urge to ask him, jokingly of course, if he expected her to just disappear or something several times and she wasn't sure how many more times she could hold it back.

As they entered Phenac city again Ray glanced over at her _again_, quickly turning away when their eyes met, suddenly busing himself with taking off his gloves and stuffing them in his pockets. _'That's it!' _Sam opened her mouth, about to ask the question that has been nagging at her when the woman who had been there when Ray had rescued her from her kidnappers came running up to them, looking flustered and very worried.

"Oh! It's you, thank goodness!" She exclaimed, panting a little from her dash across the square, "Something terrible is happening. Some scary looking man came here not too long ago, including those two men from before kidnapped you."

Sam instantly tensed at that, instinctively skirting a little closer to Ray. She couldn't help it, she still didn't know what those two men had wanted with her and she wasn't exactly eager to find out. Ray tensed at Sam's sudden movement, almost flinching, but he stayed still rather than moving away; forcing his now jumping nerves to settle before he responded to the woman; once again cursing his inability to just walk away from this whole situation, which seemed to be growing crazier by the second.

"Where did they go?" Ray asked coolly.

"Towards the mayor's house as far as I could tell." the woman responded, then gasped as if hit by a sudden realization, "Oh no! The mayor's probably in trouble!"

Ray suppressed the urge to roll his eyes; that seemed to be a pretty obvious conclusion to him.

"I guess that means I'm going to have to go check it out then." Ray said in a flat, hard tone; still hiding behind his tough exterior as much as he could; which wasn't nearly as much as he would've liked since Sam kept catching him off guard and sneaking through it.

"I'm coming with you." Sam interjected as soon as Ray finished his sentence. Ray stared at her for a moment, surprised.

"Are you sure?" He asked, "I mean we're talking about the same men who tried to kidnap you and they're not alone this time by the sound of it."

"I'm sure." Sam replied confidently, "You're going to be there too after all. Besides there's no way I'm letting you have all the fun."

"Somehow I don't think this is going to fit into the category of fun." Ray replied in a dull monotone voice, but he couldn't suppress a smile at her confidence or the slight blush that came at her comment that he would be there too, as if that made it perfectly safe. _'Like that.'_ Ray thought wryly, belatedly realizing that she had snuck past his guard once again.

They walked quickly up to the mayor's house, Ray taking two steps at a time when they came to the white stone stairs that led up to the next level of the city, while Sam had to run up them to keep up with Ray's long strides. When they got close Ray and Sam both stopped in confusion at the sounds that could be heard, if only barely, through the walls.

"Is that…" Sam asked utterly stunned.

"Music?" Ray completed an equally bemused tone.

"Espi, espeon esp." [I don't know, but it sounds good whatever it is!] Dawn exclaimed brightly, bouncing up and down a little.

"Umbreon." [Please tell me you're joking.] Eva replied in a long-suffering tone, her black ears pined back in irritation at the obnoxious music leaking through the walls.

Ray recovered first, stepping forward suddenly, jarring Sam out of her momentary confusion as Dawn and Eve bounded after him. Ray opened the door and stepped inside confidently, but stopped abruptly just inside the door completely taken aback by what he saw inside.

"Um… Ray?" Sam asked, unable to see what was going on through him.

Ray quickly sidestepped so that she could enter in behind him. In the center of the room a very tall man was dancing to the obnoxiously loud salsa music. Sam gapped openly at the sight; the man was wearing a blindingly yellow outfit and looked like he'd come straight from the 70's with disco glasses and everything. The most baffling part of his attire was a huge red and white afro that looked like a Voltorb was sitting sideways on his head. Ray also stared open mouthed at the spectacle completely floored; he'd seen some _crazy_ looking people and things, but this definitely took the cake. Eve wore an expression of almost insulted disbelief. Only Dawn didn't seem to notice the man, nodding her head lightly in time to the music.

"Master Miror B! It's him! He's the one who took the girl from us!" Folly exclaimed, pointing accusingly at Ray. Ray's gaze instantly snapped from the crazy yellow dressed man to Folly at the sound of his voice. He was standing beside his partner Trudly near the wall behind the yellow dressed man; he had been too distracted to notice them before. Suddenly the man in the center of the room whirled around, instantly ceasing his dancing as he stood to his full height. Trudly, as if on cue, hastily hit a button on the radio behind him, changing the jovial salsa music to a gram and quite sinister tune.

"Oh, now aren't you two boys frightfully pathetic?" He said, addressing Trudly and Folly, "You mean to tell me that you were bested by these darling infants?"

"Ray." Sam said in a soft, somewhat scared voice. She didn't know exactly why she said his name or why it comforted her to say it, but perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she couldn't move closer to him to comfort herself, not without agitating him anyway.

"Don't worry." Ray murmured reassuringly, "I won't let them hurt you."

"Darling, did you say your name was Ray?" Miror B asked, much too lightly for Ray's liking.

"Well _I_ didn't, but yes, my name is Ray, what of it?" Ray answered, much more confidently than he felt.

"I do believe I've heard of you before…" Miror B. replied thoughtfully, well as thoughtfully as anyone dressed so ridiculously could sound, "Yes, I'm absolutely certain I have, but I can't think of where…"

Ray's eyes widened slightly in alarm; despite his attempts to show no reaction. This, Miror B. was clearly a big fan of music and that did not bode well for Ray in that Miror B. probably had heard of him and the last thing Ray wanted was to have to confront his past.

"Oh well," Miror B. announced cheekily after a short pause, "that's not important. I do hate to have to say this, but we're not at liberty to keep your lady friend at liberty." He declared with a tactless smile.

Sam shrank back a little in fear at the implied meaning behind his words, despite the poor wording of it.

"You see," Miror B. continued, "that sweet young thing, she can see things that ordinary people aren't supposed to see. And that just won't do for what we're planning, not at all. So, if you don't like pain, like most people, you can avoid the pain by keeping your nose out of places it needn't be."

Ray laughed, but not in amusement, it was a bitter, caustic laugh.

"Pain? Do you even know what that word truly means?" He asked bitterly, highly doubting that this man could even fathom the definition of pain that Ray himself knew all too well, "If you honestly think I'm just going to let you hurt her you're dead wrong!"

Miror B. frowned, realizing that his threat had not had the desired effect, and turned to Trudly and Folly.

"Boys! Oh boys! I shall make my return to Pyrite now. Do remember that I will be waiting for you to return with the little lady here. Am I making myself clear? I won't accept another failure from you two."

Both Trudly and Folly gulped fearfully.

_'This Miror B. guy must be fairly high up in the chain of command of... whatever group they all belong to._' Ray thought.

"Y-yes sir." Folly stammered.

Ray rolled his eyes; this was going to be too easy if he just had to beat Folly _again_. When he did he noticed that along the wall to his right were three more men dressed in odd, flashy uniforms –one all in green, one in blue, and one clad completely in red- that he had been too preoccupied to notice before.

"Good!" Miror B. chimed happily, striking a tacky dance pose that more than deserved a few face palms, "Let the music play! Let's get it on!"

Trudly immediately turned around and changed the music back to the same obnoxious salsa song as before. Then he quickly handed the radio to Miror B. who took it with him as he danced out the door; Sam and Ray quickly skirting out of the way. The three men dressed in the odd tacky uniforms followed him, each glaring silently at Ray as they walked past him. The music, thankfully, fading as they all left.

"You… you…" Folly spluttered, apparently having trouble speaking, "you… last time you caught me off guard, but that's not gonna happen again! Go Whismur and Lotad!"

Ray raised one eyebrow in amused surprise, a confident smile on his face.

"Umbreon umbre." [These two had better be stronger than his last ones.] Eve muttered crossly and walked forward.

"Espi… espeon esp." [I think… that Whismur is the same.] Dawn replied, bounding forward.

"Whismur whis!" [Oh no! Not you two again!] The Whismur exclaimed, confirming Dawn's observation.

"Lotad?" [Not who again?] The Lotad asked, sounding distinctly sleepy.

Ray sighed internally. _'Well, there goes the hope that this battle was going to be at least a little harder.'_

"Dawn, use confusion on Whismur!" Ray instructed immediately, rather than allowing Folly to waste a chance of attacking first... again.

"Whismur, counter with tackle!" Folly commanded as his Whismur scrambled back up after taking the full brunt of Dawn's attack, "Lotad, use astonish on that Umbreon!"

Ray didn't bother telling Dawn to dodge, knowing that she would do so on her own, instead he focused on Eve.

"Eve, dodge and use bite!"

Eve grinned mischievously as she dodged the Lotad's weak attack and leapt forward, biting down on the dark green lily pad attached to its head.

"Umbreon, umbre!" [Hey sis, catch!] She called around the lily pad while Lotad protested in vain for her to put him down. When Dawn looked over at her twin Eve tossed Lotad at her, as if he were a frisbee. Dawn grinned and used her psychic powers to stop Lotad in midflight. Ray chucked at their antics, clearly they were having fun, despite how pitifully easy this battle was.

"Whismur, quick, use tackle!" Folly ordered, but Dawn was one step ahead of him, quickly using her powers to hurl Lotad at Whismur. They collided, hard, knocking out both already weakened Pokémon.

"Return." Folly said sullenly, taking the Pokémon back into their Poké Balls, "Damn, I failed again."

Ray smirked at his easy victory.

"Oh no, you're not getting off that easy, not this time!" Trudly declared, stepping forward aggressively, "It's my turn now and I'm not going to end up like Folly. Go Spinarak and Duskull!"

Ray frowned dubiously. Trudly probably wasn't any better than Folly, talk as he might. These two both barked a whole lot louder than their bite could back up. Trudly's Pokémon certainly didn't seem to be any tougher than Folly's.

"Spinarak? Spin spin." [Do we _have_ to? I was about to take a nap.] The Spinarack complained.

"Dusk," [Yeah,] The Duskull agreed, "Dusk, Duskull..." [Well, only I'm hungry…]

"Spinarak!" [You just ate!]

"Dusk?" [So?]

Dawn and Eve exchanged a disbelieving look.

"Umbre umbreon." [You've got to be kidding me.] Eve muttered.

"Espeon esp." [We have to battle these losers too?] Dawn whined.

"Seems that way." Ray replied, then got down to business, "Dawn use confusion on Spinarak. Eve, use bite on Duskull."

"Spinarak, dodge and use string shot!" Trudly ordered.

Spinarak tried to dodge Dawn's attack, but it wasn't quite fast enough. Meanwhile Eve leaped at Duskull with a powerful bite attack.

"Ugh! Spinarak use tackle!" Trudly commanded, "Duskull, use night shade!"

The two Pokémon paused for a moment, each unsure of which of Ray's Pokémon they were supposed to attack.

"Dawn, Eve attack again, just like before!" Ray instructed, taking advantage of his opponents' confusion. This time Trudly's heavily weakened Pokémon fainted. Trudly called back his Pokémon and grinned, pulling out a third Poké Ball.

"I told you I wasn't going to end up like Folly, didn't I?" He gloated and threw the Poké Ball, from it emerged a large, back dog-like Pokémon, a Houndoom.

Ray's eyes widened in surprise, unlike all of the Pokémon he had battled so far today this one seemed to be quite capable. The Houndoom snarled viciously at Dawn and Eve with a murderous glare. Ray stood, completely frozen with shock, he'd never seen a Pokémon with so much hate in its eyes; he hadn't thought it was even possible for a Pokémon to hate.

"Espi Espi…" [I wonder what his problem is…] Dawn murmured nervously.

"Umbre, umbreon?" [How 'bout, we not find out?] Eve replied, equally nervous.

Sam's eyes widened in fear at the sight of the Houndoom, it was the same Pokémon she had seen in Pyrite town. But a heartbeat later her features hardened into determination; this time there was something she could do about it and she wasn't going to let herself be too scared to say anything.

"Ray, it's that one!" Sam called. Ray looked back at her. Sam froze for a moment; he looked totally freaked, as if he couldn't believe what he had just seen. For a moment Sam wondered if he could see it too; then he nodded, finally registering what she had said, his expression now a little sad, but resolved too, as if he already had a plan.

"Ray! Look out!" Sam cried, remembering that this Pokémon wasn't hesitant to attack people with its full strength only when she saw it lunge at him. Ray whirled around, but too late. He only had time to brace himself before the Houndoom hit him with a powerful headbutt that sent him flying back into the wall. Sam gasped and took a step towards Ray, fearful that he had been badly hurt, but when he looked up he didn't seem to be in much physical pain. But his face was a caricature of horrified disbelief. Dawn and Eve growled threateningly at the Houndoom, but he didn't seem to notice, he was staring back at Ray with an expression that resembled startled confusion, even though it lasted only a few seconds it seemed, to Sam, like an eternity passed as human and Pokémon stared at each other. Ray's expression was so clear that he may as well have asked Houndoom aloud 'how could you?' he looked utterly devastated. Houndoom stared back at him with an expression that reminded Sam of the moment in a realistic dream when you have to stop and ask yourself if this can really be real or if it's just a dream and you're about to wake up. It almost seemed as if some silent exchange was made that brought a mutual understanding to each of what had just happened.

"Houndoom! Quit messing around and use shadow rush on the Espeon!" Trudly ordered, shattering the stunned silence that had engulfed the room and snapping Ray, Houndoom, and Sam back to the present situation.

"Dawn, dodge it!" Ray instructed quickly, his mind now working furiously, fumbling for a strategy; he couldn't use any of Dawn's psychic type moves, not against the dark and fire type Houndoom and Eve's bite attack would do less damage against him than her comparatively weaker move tackle. Ray clenched his jaw in frustration; there was only one real choice, but it was risky because of how powerful the move was.

"Dawn, I need you to use return, but go easy, we can't let that Houndoom faint!"

Dawn glanced back at him in surprise.

"Espeon esp." [Easier said than done.] She told him. She had never attempted to hold back the strength of her return attack before so she had no idea how much she would need to in order to weaken it enough and she only had one shot to get it right, "Espi esp." [But I'll try.]

Sam's jaw literally dropped in amazement at the power of Dawn's return attack. _'She must love him very much.' _Sam thought, _'I've never seen a return attack that strong.'_ She glanced over at Ray whose golden eyes gleamed with pride. The Houndoom staggered to its feet, severely weakened by Dawn's attack. Ray quickly slotted a Poké Ball into the snag machine and tossed it at Houndoom.

"No!" Trudly cried belatedly in horror as the Poké Ball captured his Houndoom. The whole room seemed to hold its breath as the Poké Ball rocked back and forth three times before a light ding indicated a successful capture. Eve darted forward and snatched it up in her jaws, taking it back to Ray.

"N-no, m-my Pokémon!" Trudly stammered in disbelief, "Y-you snagged my Pokémon Damn you! But you're good." He admitted reluctantly.

"What are you saying?!" Folly demanded, "You're not supposed to be impressed! Oh man!" he groaned, "What are we supposed to do now? We got flattened again. Miror B.'s gonna have our hides for sure."

"What do we do?" Trudly asked in a rhetorical tone that indicated he'd already formulated an answer, "What _can _we do? Run away you good for nothing moron!" He shouted and dashed out the door, Folly running close behind him.

Ray breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yay, you did it!" Sam cheered enthusiastically, jumping up and down with joy, "You saved that poor Pokémon from them. But I'm sure there are more…" She added sadly, no longer happily excited, "I know! We should go rescue them all." She suggested.

Ray sighed in resignation.

"We don't have much of a choice." He replied, gazing at the pokeball in his hand, "I'd be damned if I just let them go around hurting Pokémon like this and not doing something to stop them."

* * *

"Where are you going?" Sam asked as she followed Ray across the city to the eastern exit.

"We should get out of here and I don't trust that exit by the Mayor's house, so we'll leave this way." Ray replied.

"Aren't we going to get something to eat first?" Sam asked, "It's almost lunch time and I'm hungry."

"We can get something once we get where we're going." Ray replied.

"And just where are we going?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Ray replied, "After all you're the one who–" Ray broke off abruptly when a man dressed completely in red suddenly appeared in front of the exit, Ray immediately recognized him as one of the goons who had been with Miror B. uniforms _that_ tacky were, unfortunately, kinda hard to forget.

"You didn't really think we were going to let you get away that easily, did you?" The red clad man inquired.

"Maybe, we should try leaving a different way…" Sam suggested quietly to Ray, but not quite quietly enough because it was the man in red who answered her.

"Don't bother, my companions have the other two exits blocked; there's no way out." He told them and though his face was hidden, his smirk showed plainly in his tone of voice. _'I should've known they wouldn't give up so easily, they never do.'_ Ray thought with a jolt of fear. He didn't let it show though; forcing his features to remain relaxed. He tipped his head to one side in a cool, dangerous looking appraisal.

"And you really think we're going to be easy to stop?" Ray inquired with a confident smirk of his own. The other man was visibly shaken by Ray's confidence, taking an uncertain step back. He quickly recovered; however, and started laughing loudly. Ray briefly wondered if he was insane.

"You really think you can take me in a battle?" He asked, still laughing hysterically.

"I don't think," Ray replied coldly, "I know."

The red man stopped laughing.

"We'll see about that! Just don't start crying when I beat you."

"Esp, espeon espi." [Well, if he's as good as he talks, this should be fun.] Dawn observed excitedly.

"Umbre umbreon. Umbreon umbre. Umbreon um…" [I wouldn't get too excited if I were you. These guys all bark a lot better than they bite. I on the other hand…] Eve responded, finishing her statement with a dangerous grin, the last words clearly implied.

"Alright then girls, let's show this joker what real teamwork can do." Ray declared as Dawn and Eve leapt forward to battle.

"My name is Rosso!" The man shot back in an insulted tone, "And it's about time you learned to show some respect! Go Grimer and Spoink!" He called as he threw out two Poké Balls.

"Spoi! Spoink!" [Yay! We finally get to battle again!] The lively Spoink cried, bouncing up and down on its spring.

"Grime, grimer," [Ugh, stop bouncing,] the Grimer complained, "Grimer grime." [You're giving me a headache.]

"Grimer, use toxic on Espeon!" Rosso ordered.

"Dawn use confusion on Grimer!" Ray instructed at the same time.

"Grime…" [My head…] The Grimer griped, holding the sides of its head with its two sludgy purple arms.

"Espi." [Too easy.] Dawn replied, hitting Grimer with a powerful confusion attack that knocked it out.

"Ugh! Return you stupid Pokémon!" Rosso muttered, calling Grimer back into its ball, drawing out a third Poké Ball, "Go Quilava!"

Rosso's Quilava looked completely normal to Ray, except for the fact that it seemed every bit as full of hate as Trudly's Houndoom had as it snarled murderous threats at Ray and his Pokémon.

"Oh please no." Sam whispered in a choked, horrified voice.

Ray looked back and saw that she was almost crying.

"You know this Quilava?" He asked calmly, despite the sudden prick of anger he felt, perhaps irrationally, at Rosso for upsetting her so.

"No, it's just…" Sam began, but stopped, biting her bottom lip, hard, as a few tears slid down her cheeks before she continued, "And it has that black aura too. Oh the poor thing."

_'Quilava must just be her favorite type of Pokémon.'_ Ray reasoned and turned back to the task at hand.

"Eve, use bite on Spinarack, as many times as it takes," Ray instructed, "Dawn, use confusion on Quilava."

"Quilava, Spinarack dodge!" Rosso ordered.

Quilava nimbly dodged Dawn's attack. Spinarack; however was not so lucky; though to its credit it took two of Eve's bite attacks to make it faint. Meanwhile, Dawn managed to hit Quilava with her second confusion attack. Quilava staggered to his feet, but couldn't seem to stand up quite straight. He frantically sidestepped to correct himself, but ended up throwing himself off balance even more, as if he was dizzy. Ray smirked in satisfaction; it was confused, but Rosso didn't seem to notice, either that or he was just too desperate to care.

"Quilava use shadow rush!"

Quilava darted forward, but ran head first into the ground.

"Eve use tackle, Dawn use confusion again!" Ray instructed, grabbing a Great Ball out of his pocket, just to be sure.

"Dodge it!" Rosso ordered in vain. Both Dawn and Eve's attacks hit their mark. Ray immediately threw the Great Ball at Quilava. As soon as it dinged Eve snatched it up and ran back to Ray, dropping it in his hand.

"Y-you…" Rosso stuttered in shock, "You're tough…"

"What did you people do to those Pokémon?!" Sam demanded before Rosso could retreat.

"Huh, that?" Rosso replied, caught off guard by the question being asked while he was still dazed with the shock of his defeat, "We turned them into fighting machines by artificially closing the doors to their hearts."

"No! You didn't." Sam half-whispered horrified, "You closed the doors to the hearts of those poor Pokémon? How could you?!"

"Shit!" Rosso exclaimed, belatedly realizing his mistake, "Well, knowing that's not going to help you do anything!" He shouted and ran off.

Sam looked over at Ray, suddenly remembering that she'd heard of that before and about to tell him what she knew that could fix it over time, but she stopped herself; he was clearly very upset.

"Damn it." He muttered through tightly clenched teeth, "Damn it all!"

"Espeon." [It's not your fault.] Dawn whispered.

Sam looked down and saw that both Dawn and Eve were rubbing comfortingly against his legs. That was also when she noticed that his hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides, his hands shaking from the force with which his fingers were digging into his palms.

"Ray!" Sam gasped in horrified shock when she saw a thin ribbon of blood weave its way through his fingers and drip onto the ground. Instantly, and completely without thinking, Sam reached forward and grabbed his right arm –the closest one to her– near the wrist. Ray's instant reaction was to flinch away from her and jerk his wrist out of her hand. But as he whirled around, before yanking his arm back, he could feel the looseness of her grip, so loose that just whirling around had nearly freed him and, for some reason, that stopped him. He didn't understand _why_, but that one small detail left him standing there, frozen; still scared and nervous, yet strangely reluctant to retract his hand. Sam didn't move either; she just gazed at him steadily, her sapphire eyes brimming with gentle compassion. They stood like that for several minutes as the apprehensive shivers rippling across his skin slowed, then stopped, as the nervous fear faded from his golden eyes, as his rapid startled breathing calmed and his limbs -which has been rigid with adrenaline- relaxed. Then, and only then, did Sam slowly run her hand down his wrist. Ray tensed slightly at her movement, but made no attempt to move away. Sam gently smoothed open his still clenched fingers, murmuring softly to him.

"What were you thinking? What a silly thing to do."

"I didn't even feel it." He whispered in honest reply, soothed by the gentleness of her voice and touch.

Sam shook her head fondly, looked up into his golden eyes for a moment, smiled and slowly began to walk backwards towards a nearby stone bench, turning a little as she went. She didn't go far though; just enough for a tiny tug on his arm, just enough to silently communicate that she wanted him to follow. Ray hesitated for a moment, but Sam's motionless, silent patience encouraged him and he followed, allowing her to guide him to where she wanted him to sit.

"Wait here," Sam said softly, letting go of his hand, "I'll be right back."

"But-" Ray began, taking a half-step forward, a flash of sudden panic coursing through him.

"I'll be fine." Sam reassured him before walking off. It was a gamble, she knew, but it was one she felt that she had to take. It was a test, in a way, to see if he would just run off or stay and wait for her to come back.

* * *

Ray slumped down onto the bench staring blankly in the direction Sam had gone even long after she had left from his sight.

"Espeon espi?" [Will she really be okay?] Dawn asked, echoing his own fears, "Espi espeon esp espeon?" [What if those guys aren't really gone and they find her?]

"Umbre umbreon umb." [Well she wanted to go on her own.] Eve replied though her dubious tone suggested that she didn't consider that line of reasoning sound at all.

"She'll be fine." Ray responded, surprising himself with how strongly he felt that, "She has to be."

He couldn't quite believe how quickly he had gone from wanting to get away from her to anxiously waiting for her to return. He hadn't realized just how much he had already come to enjoy her companionship until she left his side. To Ray it was almost as if something important, some essential part of himself had suddenly, inexplicably, been taken away. For a moment he worried that Sam had just left; that she had gone with no intention of returning. _'No, she wouldn't do that, she would have said something if she wanted to part ways.' _Ray reassured himself. She just didn't seem like the kind of person who would just walk away like that. Then again, Ray didn't exactly have a good track record when it came to the people in his life. And how well could he really claim to know her when he knew next to nothing about her?

Ray stared down at his hands vacantly, not caring about the blood on his hands enough to wipe it away, not bothering to do anything but sit there and stare. He wasn't even truly aware of them, as anyone staring off into space with a preoccupied mind is not fully aware of anything around them. He missed her, he really did; it was so strange and he could find no sound explanation for it, but the empty feeling was there, too strong for him to ignore, or deny. He only faintly felt Dawn rub her head lovingly against his arm.

"Umbreon, umbre?" [You really miss her, don't you?] Eve asked him after a small sigh.

Ray blinked and looked over at Eve, her words dragging him out of his reverie.

"Well yeah… I mean…" He sighed, "I don't know. It doesn't make any sense I know, but I just do."

Eve didn't respond to his answer, she only looked away with a somewhat sad, somewhat resigned look on her face.

"Umbreon, umbre," [I can't help, but wonder,] Eve said to no one in particular after several moments of silence, "Umbre umbreon um?" [What exactly did Sam go off like that for?]

Dawn fired her a quick glare that seemed to say 'Did you seriously have to say that?'

"I don't know." Ray answered in a somber, almost sad tone and Eve felt instantly guilty.

"Espi esp!" [I think I might!] Dawn yelped excitedly, bounding to her feet suddenly, "Espeon espi espeon esp." [I bet she's gone off to get something for your hands."

"Maybe." Ray responded half dubiously, half hopefully. Eve wanted to make the comment that she wouldn't have had to go off on her own for that, but held herself back, she didn't want to make Ray sad again.

* * *

It took Sam longer than she would have liked to go pick up some bandages and Neosporin, but she had to admit, albeit grudgingly, that any amount of time would have been longer than she would have liked. She was afraid that Ray would take the first opportunity he had to just run off and leave her, but she had to reassure herself that he wouldn't and giving him a chance to do so freely, if he wanted to, was the only way. Rather than just going back the way she came, Sam decided to take a different route back which she hoped would be shorter. When she saw him she stopped for a moment in surprise. He was still sitting there, staring intently off in the direction that she had originally gone, waiting for her to return. And she was certain, though she immediately scolded herself that she must be imagining it, he seemed a bit anxious, as if he wasn't quite sure that she would return.

"Hey, sorry I was gone so long." Sam apologized, walking up to Ray. He looked over at her when she spoke, his eyes lighting up with relief for a moment before he covered it up by looking away from her with an indifferent shrug.

"It's fine, really." He replied, his soft voice barren and distant.

Dawn; however made no attempt to hide her joy in seeing Sam again, bounding up to her from where she stood at Ray's side.

"Espi! Espeon!" [See! I knew it!] She exclaimed happily, noting what Sam was carrying as she bounded up to her.

"Umb, umb." [Yeah, yeah.] Eve muttered, flicking one ear back, as if in irritation. Sam suppressed a sigh; she didn't think Eve liked her at all. And she was certain that the easiest way to win Ray's trust would be to gain the trust of the two eons, though Sam chaffed under the idea of purposely doing anything to gain their trust just so that she could win his; it seemed too close to manipulation for her liking. She didn't like the idea of manipulating anyone in the first place, but there was an almost angelic innocence and diffidence about Ray that made doing anything of that sort to him seem even more criminal and malicious than it otherwise might. She walked the rest of the way over to him with deliberate slowness so as not to frighten him. Ray looked back over to her as she did this, eyeing her movements warily. Cautiously, Sam sat down beside him. Ray tensed when she did this; they were so close that they were almost touching. But for Ray it wasn't nearly as nerve wracking as he would have expected, as being close to another person usually was. There was a certain gentle earnestness about Sam that made him want to trust her, more than he had ever wanted to trust another person before.

"Let me see your hand." Sam said softly, holding her own out expectantly. Ray hesitated, instinctively shrinking back a little from her outstretched hand. He gazed at her with open wariness, not bothering to hide his fear behind a cool, indifferent expression. He purposely let down his defenses for her and allowed her to see, written clearly on his expressive face, just how scared and vulnerable he felt. At first Sam didn't know what to do or say. What _could_ she possibly say to reassure him? She had certainly guessed that he was fearful of other people, for even though he tried to hide it behind a tough, indifferent and cold exterior it showed in little ways, the slight flinch that would come whenever she reached out to him, the distance he tried so hard to keep from others, the fact that he didn't like her being directly behind him where he couldn't see her. But she had never thought it was _this_ bad. She was torn between joy that he had let his defenses down for her and heart wrenching pity at the hurt and miserable fear that she saw in his eyes. It took Sam a long moment before she could summon some words to say, they weren't much, but they were all she had to offer him.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. I would never hurt you." She coaxed gently, using the same tone that she would use if she were talking to a skittish wild Pokémon who had been injured that she was trying to help. Ray gazed silently back at her for a moment more, his golden eyes searching hers carefully, before he tentatively placed his left hand in hers. Sam didn't reach out farther as he did this, fighting the temptation to meet him halfway, as she would do for anyone else; instead she waited patiently until his hand rested freely in hers. With her free hand Sam slowly reached over to grab one of the Wet-ones she had just bought. Ray watched her movements with nervous closeness. Even though he wanted to believe that she truly meant him no harm it was a hard thing to believe when harm was all he'd ever really known from other people. She gently wiped his hand clean from the nearly dried blood that half covered it. Just as Ray finally began to relax, somehow soothed by the slow gentle strokes that she was using, Sam stopped, having accomplished her task, and put the used wipe down onto the stone bench beside the unused ones. Ray reflexively tensed when she moved; she slowly reached over and picked up the tiny tube of Neosporin and screwed the top off skillfully between two fingers as she held it. He eyed it cautiously, the only, and rare, experiences he'd ever had with medicine were a harsh sting or being inexplicably sick for a day or two after taking it. Sam paused when he looked up at her. She could clearly see the nervous fear in his eyes; it amazed her, how purely expressive his face was; emotions and thoughts so clearly displayed that he may as well have spoken them aloud, but only if he allowed them to show. It was so easy for her to compare him to a child at moments like this, but in a good way. Sam couldn't help but smile as she thought that he looked just like a little kid who had gotten a cut or scrape while playing, nervously asking in a small voice if the medicine would sting while protectively cradling their injury from their mother's reach.

"Don't worry." She murmured softly to him, "It won't sting I promise. I'm just going to squeeze a little out onto your cuts and then put the bandage on top. It's just going to keep them from getting infected. It won't sting at all. That's why I always liked it when my mom could use this instead of Hydrogen peroxide or something like that. Now that stuff _stings_!" Sam added with a note of light humor that she hoped would help Ray to relax and add a sort of intangible validity to her claim. Ray smiled a little and almost laughed at her tone which somehow made the statement funny despite its literal meaning. Sam smiled and gently applied the medicine, placing one little dot on each little cut where his fingernails had broken through his skin. Sam slowly placed the little tube of Neosporin on the bench, pleased when Ray didn't tense at her movement. She picked up a gauze pad and medical tape, gently placing the gauze pad on his palm and then carefully wrapping the medical tape around his hand to secure it; she didn't want to make it too tight and accidentally hurt him, but she also wanted to make sure it was tight enough to keep any dirt or grime from getting to the open cuts. When she was done Ray slowly pulled his hand back, mystified by the fact that he no longer felt nervous around her at all.

"Can I see the other one?" Sam asked softly. This time Ray placed his hand in hers without any hesitation. Sam cleaned and bandaged his right hand with even more tenderness than the first, as if his hand were a one-of-a-kind delicate piece of china that was as expensive as it was irreplaceable. Handling his bare hand Sam felt and even greater sense of responsibility than she had with his left hand –which had been covered protectively on the back of it by the snag machine– when she'd held it. Just as she finished bandaging it she noticed that under the very edge of his coat sleeve was a whitish, almost pinkish, patch of skin that looked like it might be a burn scar. She opened her mouth to ask him about it out of her impulsive curiosity, but right at that moment Ray leaned forward across the small space that separated them and rested his forehead lightly on hers, his eyes closed in what seemed to be content.

Ray hadn't even realized that he'd done this. The only thing he _was _aware of was the deep sense of peace and content he felt. He'd never felt like this before, not even when he'd stayed with Malarie. For several moments Ray sat completely still, focusing on every sensation that he could feel both inside and out, individually. First, the deep sense of calm and safety that seemed to reach down into his very bones and the deepest parts of his soul, then the slight, warm, dry desert breeze that gently ruffled his sandy hair, then the warmth of the sun shining down on him, then the feel of Sam's smooth hands on his own, and finally the gentle press of her forehead against his own. This realization snapped Ray out of his peaceful state instantly, he head whipping up in surprise as he quickly pulled his hand back and stood up, turning slightly away from Sam so she couldn't quite see his face. As amazing as that moment had been, he was still scared of being hurt again in the end.

"Thanks." He murmured half absently, unsure himself as to just what he was referring to exactly.

"Y-you're welcome." Sam replied almost automatically. She was shocked and confused by his suddenly moving away from her. She knew, without even trying to approach him that she would no longer be welcome within arm's reach of him; the distance was back, his diffidence had returned, but she couldn't understand why. It had been too sudden, too inexplicable for her to fathom any reason for his sudden change in behavior.

"Anyway, we'd better keep moving." Ray said briskly, walking away, back in the direction of the Pokémon Center and Poké Mart. Sam followed him, staying well out of arms reach of him, hoping to ease his renewed skittishness. Ray glanced over at her a few times as they walked. He couldn't understand why she was walking so far away from him; farther than she ever had before; had he done something wrong?

...

"Ray?" Sam asked tentatively as they walked into the Pokémon center.

"Yeah?" Ray replied, glancing at her, secretly relieved that she still wanted to talk to him.

"Did I… I mean what… did I do something wrong?" Sam asked as Ray allowed the nurse to take his Pokémon and heal them.

He looked over at her in surprise.

"No… no of course not."

"Then…" Sam began, but stopped herself; she had no idea how to put the question she so desperately wanted to ask into the right words. Why had he so suddenly pulled away from her? An awkward, heavy silence sat firmly between them as they waited. A few minutes later the nurse came back, handing Ray the two Poké Balls that held his newly obtained Houndoom and Quilava as Dawn and Eve trotted eagerly over to him.

"Why didn't you put them in their Poké Balls?" Sam asked as they walked outside the center. She thought it was odd that he had not returned them to their Poké Balls before letting the nurse take and heal them. Ray shrugged casually, hiding the alarm he felt at her question.

"I just didn't feel like it." He lied, he felt almost sick for lying like that, but he couldn't think of anything better than that on the spot.

"Oh, I see." Sam replied somewhat awkwardly, she still didn't think that made much sense, but decided it was a subject better left alone.

...

"Why do you need to stop here?" Sam asked suddenly when she noticed that Ray was leading her straight to the Poké Mart.

"There are some supplies I need to get." Ray replied matter-of-factly, opening the door, "Alright girls," he said in a light, happy tone, addressing Dawn and Eve as they walked in, "you know the drill."

"Espi!" [Yay!] Dawn cried happily, running over to the side wall of the store where many different little treats, candies, and berries were displayed.

"Umbre." [Finally.] Eve muttered, trotting after her twin,

Ray laughed softly, shaking his head fondly as he followed them.

Dawn was flitting about excitedly, looking at all the different treats and berries while Eve peered suspiciously at one container of flavored candies as if she was trying to decide whether they would be something she'd be willing to try or not. Sam watched nonplussed as Ray walked up and started putting a good fistful or two of several different treats in individual baggies. He paused for a moment and Sam could see his lips moving as he quietly muttered something to himself; his fine featured face displaying mild consternation as if he was making somewhat difficult decisions. What these decisions were Sam couldn't have said, but they resulted in Ray filling up a few more baggies before he addressed Dawn and Eve again.

"Alright you two, is there anything new you want to try?"

"Espi, espi esp… espeon!" [This, this and... that one!] Dawn replied, excitedly pointing to three different bins.

"Umbre umb umbreon?" [Can't you ever choose just one?] Eve asked in a lovingly irritated tone.

Ray laughed a little.

"It's alright Eve, I don't mind. Did you find anything" Ray replied, grabbing a few candies out of each bin that Dawn had indicated.

"Umbre" [Yeah.] Eve replied, pointing to the bin that she had been examining.

Ray smiled and got a few out of that bin as well. When he was done he walked over to the store counter to pay for everything before they all walked out.

"Why'd you buy so much?" Sam asked once they were outside, surprised by the sheer amount of treats that Ray had bought.

"Well this should last them all a good two weeks." Ray replied taking two candies out, one from the bag of new ones Dawn had picked out and one from Eve's, deftly tossing the candies to them. Eve looked completely pleased with hers, but Dawn did not, though she didn't seem overly displeased either.

"Well?" Ray asked.

"Umbre!" [Good.] Eve confirmed brightly.

"Espi… espeon esp espeon espi." [Well... it's definitely not the best one I've ever chosen.] Dawn admitted.

Eve snickered lightly.

"Umbre umbreon." [That's what you get.]

"Espi!" [Why you!] Dawn retorted and jumped on Eve, the twin eons scuffling rowdily.

"Girls." Ray chastised in a light, but parental tone, ginning all over his face at their antics. The twins instantly froze, Eve having Dawn half pinned. A heartbeat latter they scrambled to their feet.

Ray pulled one of the pokeballs out and gazed at it steadily for a long moment before taking a deep breath.

"Well here goes nothing." He murmured before opening it.

Houndoom shook his head forcefully then looked around, appearing to be half dazed. Ray drew a few more candies out and knelt down, holding his hand out, several different colors of candies laid out in his palm. Houndoom backed up warily, his ears pinned back in agitation as he growled aggressively at Ray. Sam held her breath for a moment, concerned for Ray's safety in handling such a volatile an unpredictable Pokémon, but Ray didn't seem fazed, patiently holding his hand out.

"It's alright," he murmured gently, "here, come try some." He coaxed, moving his palm a little, causing the candies to shift slightly. Houndoom stared him straight in the eye for several moments before taking a tentative step forward. Sam forced back a gasp of surprise as the black aura around Houndoom shrank slightly. Houndoom took another cautious step forward before reaching over and carefully sniffing each of the candies in Ray's hand before picking one up and eating it, letting out a pleased exclamation at the taste. Ray smiled and slowly pulled back his hand, Houndoom instantly stepped back again, growling softly. When Ray brought his hand back out there were two more candies the same color as the one Houndoom had eaten laying in his palm. He held out his hand again.

"Here you go boy." Ray coaxed. This time Houndoom came forward much more readily and took the candies, chewing them slowly. Ray carefully reached up and gently stroked Houndoom's ears. At first Houndoom tensed under Ray's touch, but soon leaned into his hand contently. Sam couldn't help but smile hopefully as the black aura shrank a little more.

"Good boy." Ray crooned softly pulling Houndoom's Poké Ball back out and calling him back into it. After he put it away Ray drew out the second Poké Ball.

"Alright buddy, your turn." Ray murmured before releasing Quilava.

Quilava immediately drew away from him, snarling fiercely. Again, Ray pulled out several different candies and held them out in his palm and patiently waited for Quilava to come forward, gently coaxing him. It took longer that it had with Houndoom, but Quilava did come forward and take a candy which he too seemed pleased with. Ray drew back his hand carefully, but instead of backing away like Houndoom had Quilava snapped at Ray, barely missing his hand. Sam gasped in fear; it took all her willpower not to plead for Ray to just return Quilava to its Poké Ball for his own safety.

"Easy boy." Ray soothed as he took two more candies out, "No one here is going to hurt you." He assured Quilava as he bravely held out his hand again. Quilava hesitated for a moment before he stepped forward to take the candies, backing up quickly once he had. It was clear that Quilava would not tolerate Ray's touch as Houndoom had.

"There you go boy." Ray murmured softly before calling Quilava back into his Poké Ball.

"So, where to now?" Ray asked, turning to look at Sam.

"Umm... well…" Sam thought for a moment, which was not an easy thing for her to do with Ray looking at her; it distracted her in a way that she wasn't quite ready to admit, even to herself, especially to herself, which only flustered her even more.

Ray tried to wait patiently for her answer, but with each passing moment he became increasingly anxious. _'Why is it taking her so long?'_ He asked himself worriedly. Was she still upset about earlier, he wondered fretfully. She would barely even look at him which unsettled him for some reason, he didn't understand why, but it did, which only served to unsettle him further.

"Sam?" He asked tentatively, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, y-yes I'm fine." Sam stuttered, blushing a little. Ray had no idea how to react to that, or how to feel about it, and so ended up just staring back at her.

"A-anyway," Sam continued, "I think we should follow those guys to Pyrite town. I bet we could find out more about this whole situation if we go there."

"Are you sure you want to go there?" Ray asked, "I mean, that's where you said those guys kidnapped you in the first place, isn't it?"

Sam nodded.

"Yeah, but I still think we should go there. We might learn something important."

"Alright." Ray agreed reluctantly. He didn't like the idea of going there, of putting Sam in danger, but she had a good point. He was certainly still wary of trusting her completely, but saying that he hadn't grown at least a little attached to her would have been a lie.

* * *

**Sammie: Okay so some parting things. Y'all are probably gonna be mad, sorry if this comes across a little harsh, I don't mean it too, It's just that my mommy's said this to me before so I don't want to hear it on here too. **

**No one had better say that hydrogen peroxide doesn't sting because I think it does, I got my face drug across the pavement by my dog once -because I was too stubborn to let my mommy help me hold the leash so my bad- and having the hydrogen peroxide poured over it was the most painful part of the whole ordeal so there.**

**Also please just trust me on the fact that everything in this chapter is important right down to the little fact about Ray and medicine that becomes ****_very_**** important latter... dun dun dun**

**Plad: Stop trying to scare people!**

**Sammie: But it's ****_true!_**

**Plad: [face palm]**


End file.
